A memorial gathering at Lekki Toll Gate to honor the victims of the 2020 #EndSARS protests took a dramatic turn on Sunday as demonstrators alleged they were subjected to violence and mistreatment by the police.
The event, intended to mark the fourth anniversary of the movement against police brutality and extrajudicial killings, was met with heavy police resistance, leading to confrontations between protesters and law enforcement officers.
Protesters who came to commemorate the lives lost during the #EndSARS demonstrations have shared their accounts of what they say was brutal treatment by the police. According to reports, a small group of people gathered at the Lekki Toll Gate, a location that has become a symbol of the #EndSARS movement.
The protests in 2020, which called for the disbandment of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and an end to police violence, had culminated in what many described as a massacre at Lekki, with soldiers accused of opening fire on peaceful protesters.
“We are protesters who wanted to mark the anniversary of #EndSARS but were apprehended by a group of policemen under the leadership of the commissioner of police,” one of the protesters said in a video shared by human rights lawyer Inibehe Effiong on X (formerly Twitter). “I am right here speaking to you from a Black Maria, brutalized and beaten by the police. My glasses were taken away from my eyes by a police officer without any provocation. We are asking today when it became illegal to protest in this country.”
The protesters had hoped to hold a peaceful procession in memory of those who died during the original protests in October 2020. However, it soon became clear that the authorities were not going to allow the event to proceed without interference. Police officers were deployed to the site and reportedly took swift action to break up the gathering, arresting several individuals in the process.
Eyewitnesses recounted scenes of chaos as the police moved in to disperse the crowd. Some protesters claimed they were beaten and forced into police vehicles, including a Black Maria, a type of vehicle often used for transporting prisoners. Reports indicate that the police showed no hesitation in using force against those who had come to peacefully remember the tragic events of four years ago.
