The Lagos command of the Nigeria police has warned organisers of the proposed Yoruba Nation rally scheduled to take place at the Gani Fawehimi Freedom Park, Ojota, Lagos State on 3rd July, 2021 to steer clear of Lagos streets, saying no such rally will be allowed.
Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Hakeem Odumosu, while addressing a press briefing on the issue in Lagos on Thursday said anyone caught participating or facilitating the rally will be dealt with within the ambit of the law.
The police chief said Lagos State cannot afford to experience breakdown of law and order considering the negative effects and agonies that attended the October 2020 #EndSARS crisis, which he said led to massive destruction of public and private facilities and the killing of some police personnel.
Odumosu added that the command would not be cajoled by the organizers of the proposed rally that it would be peaceful, saying that was the same slogan adopted by the organizers of the #EndSARS protest which eventually snowballed into crisis with attendant massive destruction of lives and properties.
“It would be recalled that on the 12th June, 2021, there was a rumoured stay-at-home order purported to have been issued by a group which was immediately debunked by Lagos State police command.
“On this note, the command still reaffirms that on no account will any actual or rumoured activities, including the said planned mega rally, be allowed to lock down the state or hinder normal daily activities of the good people of Lagos State,” he said.
The CP said the command had received intelligence reports that some disgruntled elements have perfected plans to infiltrate the ranks of the protesters to cause mayhem, attack and loot properties of law-abiding citizens of the state.
“It has also come to the knowledge of the command that the rally arranged to take place at Gani Fawehimi Freedom Park, Ojota, Lagos, has been planned by some other yet-to-be identified groups to simultaneously take place in Lekki Toll Gate, Ikoyi, Iyana-Ipaja, Ikeja, Surulere, Ikorodu and other areas. This, if allowed, could be a fatal ground to anarchy.
He said his men had received intelligence reports that one Elewe-Omo, a transport union leader in Ibadan, Oyo State, has perfected plan to attack the organizers of the rally as a reprisal for the killing of one of his followers allegedly by Sunday Igboho’s group during a similar rally organized in Ibadan, Oyo State, lately.
“The command will not fold its (arms) and allow disgruntled elements to truncate the peace being enjoyed in the state,” he said.
He therefore appealed to the general public, especially Lagosians, to shun the rally and called on parents and guardians to discourage their children and wards from participating in it.
The CP also advised all law-abiding people of the state to go about their normal daily activities as the police command and other security agencies have put measures in place to provide adequate and water-tight security for all and sundry in the state.