Police officers fired teargas at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos on Tuesday, dispersing individuals at a memorial to victims of the #EndSARS protests and stopping them from laying wreaths.
The Punch newspaper reported that residents, journalists and political figures had gathered for the occasion organised by the Enough is Enough motion when officers fired teargas canisters.
Among these affected have been Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, the African Democratic Congress governorship candidate in Lagos State, and Funso Doherty of the Nigeria Democratic Congress.
A video sighted confirmed individuals scrambling for security because the teargas unfold throughout the realm, in accordance to the report.
A PREMIUM TIMES reporter who visited the toll gate at 11: 15 a. m. on the day noticed cops at the scene however couldn’t discover any of the organisers. The reporter additionally percieved a odor of teargas however couldn’t set up its supply at the time.
The organisers had scheduled a wreath-laying ceremony for 11 a.m. to honour individuals who died or went lacking through the 2020 protests.
They deliberate to lay 15 wreaths: 9 for individuals listed as lifeless in reference to the Lekki incident, 4 for these listed as lacking and presumed lifeless, one for journalist Pelumi Onifade and one other for different unidentified victims.
The 9 individuals listed as lifeless have been Victor Sunday Ibanga, Abuta Solomon, Jide, Olalekan Abideen Ashafa, Olamilekan Ajasa, Kolade Salami, Folorunsho Olabisi, Kenechukwu Ugoh and Nathaniel Solomon.
Those listed as lacking and presumed lifeless have been Abiodun Adesanya, Ifeanyi Nicholas Eji, Tola and Wisdom.
Rights teams demand accountability
The incident occurred as civil society organisations renewed requires justice for victims of police abuses and the implementation of suggestions arising from investigations into the Lekki incident.
The Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) mentioned the disbandment of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) had not ended allegations of police brutality, torture, extortion, illegal detention and extrajudicial killings.
In a press release on Tuesday, the group referred to as for the enforcement of the Police Act 2020 and the Anti-Torture Act 2017. It additionally urged authorities to examine allegations of abuse, prosecute officers discovered culpable and strengthen civilian oversight of the police.
RULAAC additionally raised considerations about alleged abuses at police detention services, together with Tiger Base in Owerri, Imo State. It referred to as for detainees to have entry to legal professionals and kin and urged the police to maintain correct data of arrests and transfers and adjust to courtroom judgements.
Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) referred to as on the federal and Lagos State governments to apologise for the Lekki shootings and supply redress for victims.
In a separate assertion on Monday, the organisation urged the authorities to conduct impartial investigations, prosecute these discovered accountable and compensate individuals killed or injured through the crackdown.
CAPPA mentioned the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry’s report implicated safety personnel in deaths and accidents at the toll gate. It criticised the federal authorities’s rejection of the panel’s findings and the Lagos State Government’s White Paper, which disputed points of the casualty data.
The group additionally referred to as for the implementation of a July 2024 judgment of the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice which, in accordance to CAPPA, discovered Nigeria responsible for human rights violations and ordered compensation and contemporary investigations.
CAPPA renewed its name for justice for Pelumi Onifade, a journalist arrested by officers of the Lagos State Task Force on 24 October 2020 whereas overlaying occasions at the Ministry of Agriculture Abattoir in Oko-Oba, Agege. It referred to as for an investigation into his dying and the prosecution of anybody discovered accountable.
The organisation additionally urged the authorities to protect the Lekki Toll Gate as a nationwide memorial and introduce safeguards, together with body-worn cameras for cops.
Recurrent violations
Tuesday’s dispersal brings again the reminiscence of abuses of previous #EndSARS memorial attendees by the police.
In July 2025, the Federal High Court in Lagos ordered the Inspector-General of Police and the then Lagos State Commissioner of Police Moshood Jimoh to collectively pay N10 million in damages to protesters whose rights have been violated throughout a memorial procession at the toll gate on 20 October 2024.
The choose Musa Kakaki held that the arrests violated the protesters’ constitutional proper to peaceable meeting and affiliation.
The candidates advised the courtroom that cops used teargas and stay ammunition to disperse them, assaulted some individuals and detained them earlier than releasing them with out cost.
The choose additionally dominated that an earlier Lagos State High Court order limiting protests to designated parks couldn’t be utilized retrospectively to the gathering.
READ ALSO: Six years after #EndSARS, police impunity persists – RULAAC
The swimsuit was filed by 22 people and three organisations: the Education Rights Campaign, Take It Back Movement and Campaign for the Defence of Human Rights.
Police arrested demonstrators throughout anniversary occasions in 2021 and arrested protesters and journalists in 2022.
Six years after #EndSARS
The #EndSARS protests started in October 2020, when younger Nigerians took to the streets to demand an finish to police brutality, significantly abuses attributed to SARS.
The federal authorities introduced the unit’s disbandment on 11 October 2020, however demonstrations continued as protesters demanded accountability.
The capturing at the Lekki Toll Gate on 20 October 2020 turned one of many defining moments of the protests. Investigations into the incident and calls for for justice have continued within the years since.
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