POLICE TEAR-GAS #ENDSARS MEMORIAL AT LEKKI TOLLGATE, HIT RHODES-VIVOUR, DOHERTY

Police officers on Tuesday fired tear gas to disperse residents, journalists, activists and political figures gathered at the Lekki tollgate in Lagos to commemorate victims of the October 2020 #EndSARS protests, according to a ValidViewNetwork news report.

Among those affected by the police action were the Lagos State governorship candidates of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, and the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Funso Doherty.

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE TOLLGATE

Police fired the canisters before participants could lay wreaths, and the crowd fled amid confusion.

The Enough is Enough movement organised the gathering on the sixth anniversary.

Media crews were interviewing Doherty and Rhodes-Vivour at the scene when the canisters landed. Up to the time of the first reports, the Lagos State Police Command had given no explanation for the tear gas.

A PATTERN, NOT AN ACCIDENT

This is not the first time. Police fired tear gas at the memorial procession in October 2021 and again in 2024.

In 2024, about 20 people were arrested and Amnesty International condemned the response. In 2021, the then Lagos Commissioner of Police described those dispersed as “hoodlums” rather than protesters.

Mourners come, officers disperse them, and the police later explain the dispersal. Yet Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution guarantees freedom of assembly. A memorial for the dead is the least threatening form of assembly a society knows.

WHY THE PLACE MATTERS

The philosopher Hannah Arendt wrote about the “space of appearance”, the public place where citizens show up and are seen.

The Lekki tollgate has become that place for a generation. Dispersing a wreath-laying there says something about how the state sees its own history.

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POLITICAL ECHOES

NDC presidential candidate Peter Obi urged Nigerians not to forget the October 20, 2020 shootings and called the anniversary a reminder of young people’s sacrifice.

With 2027 approaching, the memorial sits at the centre of campaign politics. Neutral readers will want one thing: the police should explain why tear gas was necessary at a gathering of mourners. ValidViewNetwork reports.