Lagos Police Command has revealed reasons for firing teargas at some youths who gathered at the Lekki Tollgate in Lagos State in light of the candlelight procession held in honour of the late Afrobeats artist Mohbad.
The candlelight procession organised Thursday, September 21, to honor Mohbad, who tragically passed away was graced by several fans, friends, and fellow artistes, however, reportedly escalated into chaos following police intervention to disperse the crowd.
Speaking on the development in a post on X (formerly Twitter) Friday, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Benjamin Hundeyin, described the report as “false narrative”.
According to him, the organisers of the candle light procession was instructed to end the procession at 8 pm latest and should terminate at Muri Okunola, Victoria Island, adding that “it 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 ground in persuading the people at the toll gate to disperse peacefully.
The organisers 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 which 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 added
The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, hereby warns mischief makers that any person or group of persons found disturbing the peace of the state, under whatever guise, would be promptly arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
“The Lagos State Police Command also appreciates the procession organizers for keeping faith with the Command and assures all supporters of #justiceforMohbad and Lagosians at large that it would continue to prioritize their safety and security at all times.
“Meanwhile, the ongoing investigation into the circumstances leading to the death of Mr Ilerioluwa Aloba is progressing well.
“The general public are, therefore, requested to avoid creating unnecessary distractions and give the Command the stable internal security space to undertake a conclusive and timeous investigation.
“In this process, it should be noted that the Lagos State Police Command has, as promised, been interfacing closely and regularly with all meaningful support groups of #justiceforMohbad.
” This synergy shall be sustained while the general public are assured that they would be continually updated on the progress of the investigation”
