EndSARS Memorial: Police fire tear gas at youth at Lekki tollgate again

Two years on, scores of Nigerians stormed the Lekki tollgate in Lagos to commemorate the death of citizens, particularly youths, who were allegedly massacred by the Nigerian army on October 20, 2020.

In memory of those who were killed, these citizens, including the likes of ‘Falz the Bahd Guy’, MC Macaroni, and other celebrities, walked through the toll gate while blasting horns, chanting in unison, and waving the Nigerian flags through the toll gate where the incident took place.

But their event was disrupted by the police, who suddenly showed up at the scene and began to disperse the crowd with tear gas and water cannons.

In a video making the rounds on social media, participants were compelled to either seek cover or flee for their lives to prevent history from repeating itself.

Background

The #ENDSARS movement was set up to target the highly-criticized Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (Sars), widely accused of unlawful arrests, torture, and murder in the country.

On 20th October 2020, military officers and police opened fire on protesters in Lagos in Lekki and Alausa, killing at least 12 people, according to Amnesty International.

Prior to the shooting at the Lekki toll gate, where protesters had been gathering for two weeks, CCTV camera’s were reportedly removed and electricity cut.

It can be recalled that on that particular day, the #EndSARS was trending worldwide on Twitter with celebrities including the Nigerian superstars Wizkid and Davido tweeting their support for protesters.

The development gained the world’s attention as international media giants including CNN, BBC, Aljazeera, and many others gave prominence to it.

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