#EndSARS: Lagos Attorney General Withdraws Case Against Protesters

 

The Attorney General of Lagos State, Moyosore Onigbanjo, has reportedly struck out the case against #EndSARS and #OccupyLekkiTollGate protesters.

 

It was also stated that the belongings of protesters seized by law enforcement agents during their arrest are to be returned.

 

This was stated in a tweet by @citizen_gavel, a company of over 160 lawyers that has been at the fore of the fight against injustice.

 

#OCCUPYLEKKITOLLGATE UPDATE:
The Attorney General of Lagos State has sent a directive to withdraw all charges against the Defendants, all Prostesters' belongings seized by the Police/ its Agents or privy are equally ordered to be returned to them.

Case has been struck out.

— #Tech4Justice (@citizen_gavel) March 11, 2021

 

Some Nigerians have started reacting to this development. 

#OCCUPYLEKKITOLLGATE UPDATE:
The Attorney General of Lagos State has sent a directive to withdraw all charges against the Defendants, all Prostesters' belongings seized by the Police/ its Agents or privy are equally ordered to be returned to them.

Case has been struck out.

— #Tech4Justice (@citizen_gavel) March 11, 2021

October 2020, Nigeria witnessed the #EndSARS protest in at least 12 states of its 36 states, as part of calls for the disbanding of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a notorious unit of the Nigerian Police with a long record of abuses.

 

Police officers disrupted the protests in some cities, firing teargas canisters, using water cannons and shooting at unarmed peaceful protesters as seen in Abuja and Osun.

 

The protest which lasted for some weeks was hijacked three weeks into the start of the movement by some hoodlums who reportedly set police stations on fire, looted warehouses and stores. 

 

Some protesters were arrested in their homes while the Central Bank of Nigeria obtained an ex parte motion to freeze the accounts of notable participants in the #EndSARS protest. 

 

Following the death of many protesters at the tollgate on October 20, Nigerians demanded justice across social media platform.

 

Government and security officials denied the killings despite evidence by journalists and human rights groups to the contrary.

 

Judicial panels of inquiry were set up across states in the federation. The panels were set up to investigate the cases of abuse by the members of the police force.

 
However on February 6, the Judicial Panel of Inquiry set up by the Lagos State government approved the reopening of the Lekki Tollgate, returning the control of the tollgate to the Lekki Concession Company.

 

Nigerians kicked against this on Twitter and other social media platforms and planned a second protest: the #OccupyLekkiTollGate protest which was slated for February 13. 

 

Some of the protesters who showed up, were arrested and detained at the Adeniji-Adele Police Station, in the commercial city of Lagos, where they were allegedly “beaten and tortured”.

 

The Nigeria police had, a day earlier, been deployed in their numbers across Lagos, with the clear intent of intimidating protesters who were planning to congregate at the tollgate.