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Nigerian police on Saturday arrested a small group of protesters in Lagos after trying to organize a rally to demand justice for the victims of a deadly shooting during protests last year.
Activists had called for more protests on Saturday after a judicial panel authorized the reopening of the city’s giant Lekki tollbooth, where security forces fired at protesters in October.
Last year’s predominantly youth-led #EndSARS protests against police brutality and governance crippled Africa’s largest city in October in a campaign that garnered the support of many high-profile celebrities.
On Saturday, police boarded around 17 protesters in a black truck at the toll booth where security forces had been deployed since Friday evening, an AFP journalist said at the scene.
“The Lekki tollgate should become a museum of resistance and not a monument to earn money,” said Damilare Adebola, 24, who spoke from the police van where he was being held.
There were no other protesters at the gate and traffic flowed smoothly, with some drivers chanting “End SARS” as they passed.
A young protester dressed in a red t-shirt managed to escape from the pursuing police.
The Nigerian government this week warned against further protests in Lekki, saying the rallies could turn into violence in the name of justice.
“We call on all Nigerian authorities to demonstrate their commitment to protect the right to peaceful protest,” Amnesty International said on Twitter.
The initial #EndSARS protests, named after SARS police forces accused of abuse, spread even after the unit broke up and the government promised reforms.
The Nigerian government this week warned against further protests in Lekki, saying the rallies could turn violent. By SOPHIE BOUILLON (AFP / File) The protests ended abruptly after the shooting in Lagos and a wave of looting and unrest that followed.
An investigation into last year’s violence in Lekki was blocked as representatives of the armed forces did not appear before the panel.
Security forces say they used only blank cartridges to disperse protesters who defied a curfew, although Amnesty International said soldiers shot dead at least 10 people.
After the deadly October shooting, the United Nations, the African Union, the European Union and Britain urged the authorities to refrain from the use of excessive force.
The October wave of protests was the biggest show of popular power in years in Africa’s most populous country as young people gathered to demand more sweeping changes.
The huge highway toll at Lekki in Lagos has become the epicenter of the protest movement with musicians and celebrities joining rallies there during weeks of protests.
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