On-air personality, Oladotun Ojuolape Kayode, aka Do2dtun, has said the misfortune suffered by those who were recently teargassed at Lekki Tollgate was self-inflicted.
The Thursday night’s candlelight procession in honour of the late singer Mohbad ended in chaos as police deployed tear gas to disperse youths who had congregated at Lekki Tollgate with many reportedly sustaining injuries.
Federal officials were present at the ceremonial candlelight procession which was held at Victoria Island’s Muri Okunola Park.
Several clips, however, surfaced online that saw participants bolting to safety as police fired tear gas canisters at the unyielding crowd.
The state’s Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Benjamin Hundeyin, revealed in a statement on Friday, September 22, that the Lagos State Police Command had an arrangement with the candlelight procession’s organisers that the march was to terminate at Muri Okunola by 8 o’clock that evening.
According to Hundeyin, attendees in the procession deviated beyond the set boundaries, halting traffic on the Lekki-Epe highway.
He said,
“Therefore, in fulfillment of our mandate to protect life and property, maintain law and order, and prevent crimes, we adopted the least harmful method of crowd dispersal, following the failure of verbal persuasion – the use of teargas.”
Reacting to the incident via his X handle, Do2dtun rebuked the victims for straying beyond the approved procession venue and time.
He wrote,
“Honesty over honesty Nigerians do not listen. We do the most. This procession ended at Muri Okunola Park over 3 hours ago. We ended and all left. Some still went to converge at the Lekki toll gate. It is not a protest. It is a candlelight procession.”
Though he faulted the police in some way but noted the situation could have been hijacked by miscreants if they didn’t step in.
He added,
“It’s not a right for the police to do that but people hijack these things & turn it into something else. Muri Okunola (Park) was approved & it was a peaceful candle procession.
“It’s just common sense. The people that went home, are they stupid? Apply this thing sometimes. Na Lagos we dey.”
