The Lagos State Police Command has defended the use of tear gas by its officers to disperse followers of the late rapper, Ilerioluwa Olademeji Aloba, nicknamed Mohbad, who gathered at the Lekki tollgate on Thursday for a candlelight parade.
The police said Muri Okunola Park in Victoria Island was the approved venue of the march, but after it finished at 8 p.m. at the designated venue, as agreed with the organizers, some people with ulterior motives converged at Lekki tollgate, disrupting vehicular movement.
In a statement shared via his X handle on Friday, the command’s spokesperson, Benjamin Hundeyin, said the use of teargas was a last resort, emphasizing that the police and organizers of the candlelight procession pleaded with those who converged at the Lekki tollgate to vacate the road for hours but they refused.
Hundeyin added that no life was lost neither was there any injury.
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The statement partly read, “It is instructive to note that the Lagos State Police Command had an agreement with the organizers of the candlelight procession that the procession was to end at 8 pm latest and should terminate at Muri Okunola, Victoria Island. It was clearly stated for the avoidance of doubt that in the interest of all Lagosians and considering the heavy use of the Lekki-Epe Expressway, the Lekki Toll Gate would be a no-go area.
“It, however, became disconcerting that after the procession duly ended at Muri Okunola park as agreed, with the police providing optimal security all through, some persons started gathering at the Lekki Toll Gate with intent to manifest objectives extraneous to the #justiceforMohbad initiative.
“Being a clear violation of the laid down agreement, the Lagos State Police Command invited the procession organizers who came back and joined the officers on the ground in persuading the people at the toll gate to disperse peacefully. The organizers equally sent out messages on social media asking everyone to go home, clarifying in clear terms that it was not a protest but a procession that had been successfully concluded. This persuasion and appeal went on for hours, to which the police and organizers met defiance, both in words and action. At this point, all lanes in and out of Lekki had been totally blocked. Vehicular movement on the ever-busy expressway had been brought to a total standstill, leading to traffic build-up.
“Having gone down this road before, having learnt from previous similar encounters, and having studied the pattern in the crowd, the red flags and early warning signs of total chaos and anarchy were discernible.
“Therefore, in fulfillment of our mandate to protect life and property, maintain law and order and prevent crimes, we adopted the least harmful method of crowd dispersal, following the failure of verbal persuasion – the use of teargas. Not a single live ammunition was fired! The police adopted crowd management best practices in engaging the unruly crowd. No life was lost neither was there any injury.”
He asked for calm, emphasising that the continuing investigation into the circumstances surrounding Mohbad’s death “is progressing well.”
“As a result, the general public is urged to avoid unnecessary distractions and to provide the Command with the stable internal security space necessary to conduct a thorough and timely investigation,” he added.