JUST IN: #DefendLagos Withdraws From Lekki Tollgate Protest

The initiator of #DefendLagos, Alabi Oladimeji, says the group has suspended its counter-protest expected to hold at the #Lekkitollgate today (Saturday).

He made this known at a press conference hosted on his Facebook page, noting that the suspension was necessitated by the federal and state governments’ assurances that no protest would be allowed to hold.

The PUNCH reported two opposing camps – #OccupyLekkiTollGate and #DefendLagos – planned to hold separate protests in Lagos State on Saturday.

Oladimeji warned that #DefendLagos would organise a “huge” protest if the security operatives allowed the #OccupyLekkiTollgate campaigners to hold their planned protest.

He said, “No protest from #DefendLagos on Saturday (today). We are simultaneously respecting the state and federal governments.

“I am proud to announce that for the main time, we will be pending this protest due to the law of the federal and state governments. We are law-abiding and good citizens we should not be seen disobeying any law.

“In respect of the President, Muhammadu Buhari, and Lagos Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, I am now announcing that anyone involved in #DefendLagos initiated by me should stop with immediate effect pend the protest. We are not going to hold any protest again on Saturday (today).

“If Lagos and federal government fail us, we will come out huge and protest on Monday.”

He explained that though depressing, the plan to protest was never for personal benefits but to ensure that no destruction occurred in Lagos State.

“It is depressing news for me because we have invested personal resources to produce banners, posters, among others on this. But this is not an avenue for us to make money like those in the OccupyLagos,” he added.

The DefendLagos campaigner also urged the governments to arrest anyone that contravened the directives stopping protests in the state.

“If they come out to protest and the government allows that, it means that we can also protest. We trust the governments. The state and FG have banned any protests in Lagos. If they come out and the government did not arrest them, it means that the government has failed us,” he said.

The Federal Government and the police had earlier warned youths who planned to protest at the Lekki tollgate on Saturday (today) to have a rethink and shelve the protests.

But the young Nigerians, under the aegis of #EndSARS Season 2 and #OccupyLekkiTollgate, vowed to defy the government’s order.

They said the decision informed their action of the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry allowing the Lekki Concession Company to reopen the Lekki tollgate.

The #EndSARS protests had spread across the country in October 2020 to register the youths’ grievances against the alleged atrocities of the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Nigeria Police Force.

The protest, which gained massive international attention, came to a halt on October 20, 2020, when heavily armed soldiers allegedly shot protesters at the Lekki tollgate.

After about four months of investigating the Lekki shootings, the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry decided to allow the LCC to resume toll collection at the tollgate. This development has generated a flurry of reactions among youths.

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