The chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Adesina Ogunlana, has kicked against the continued detention of some EndSARS protesters in Lagos and Oyo State, saying the victims were labelled as armed robbers and have since been denied access to justice, yet the Lagos government are planning of reopening the Ikoyi-Lekki Toll gate.
Adesina listed the names of some of the arrested EndSARS protesters in Oyo State as Adeshina Ademuyiwa, Ikechukwu Eze, Ariyo Sodiq, Ikenna Amaechi, Oyewole Olumide, Ariyo Afeez, Taoreed Abiodun, Adekunle Moroof and Rasheed Tiamiyu which he said are being tossed from one court to another on their quest to get justice.
He said “In Lagos, we have come upon a chance discovery of #EndSARS protesters and Police brutality victims still in prison. A case in point is that of Dare Williams, who has being in prison custody since December 2020 upon his arrest by police officers attached to Sabo Yaba police station who found videos of #EndSARS protest on his phone, others were Ismail Mufutaq and Sodiq Sulaimon who were charged with arson and robbery.
“We call on the Oyo State Government to end the agony of these innocent #EndSARS protesters and withdraw the information filed against them. We call on the Attorney General of Lagos State to withdraw these charges accordingly.
“As for the planned reopening of the Ikoyi-Lekki Tollgate, he said this is contrary to the resolution of the Justice Doris Okuwobi-led Lagos State Judicial Panel on Restitution for Victims of Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS Related Abuses and Other Matters after thorough investigations into the October 20, 2020 shootings at the toll gate.
The lawyer said, “We have it on good authority that the entire aim of the Lagos State Government is to reopen the Ikoyi-Lekki Toll Gate without further resistance on 1st August, 2022.
“We hereby give notice that we are prepared to resist the planned re-opeming of the Lekki Toll Gates on the said date. We are perturbed that the Lagos State Government, despite the findings of Okuwobi-led panel to the contrary, is intent on erasing the verdict of history that many #EndSARS protesters were massacred and hell-bent on reopening the Toll Gates by fire and by Force.”
