June 12 Protest: ‘Nobody was harassed or arrested at Ojota’ – Lagos Police Commissioner tells Neusroom despite evidence
Despite video evidence showing police firing teargas canisters, chasing, harassing and arresting protesters and journalists who had gathered for the June 12 protest at Ojota, Lagos, on Saturday June 12, 2021, the Lagos Police Commissioner Hakeem Odumosu told Neusroom that protesters were not harassed or arrested.
In commemoration of this year’s Democracy Day, young Nigerians decided to take to the streets in major cities across the country to protest against bad governance, rising insecurity and the recent suspension of the operations of Twitter in Nigeria by the federal government.
The protests were met with brute force by Police in Abuja, Ogun state and Lagos.
On Saturday morning, dozens of Police officers had gathered at the Gani Fawehinmi Park, venue of the protest in Lagos, before the arrival of protesters.
Multiple videos examined by Neusroom showed officers firing teargas canisters, harassing and arresting protesters.
A journalist and eyewitnesses told Neusroom that they were harassed at the scene, while some protesters were also arrested.
But Odumosu denied all these in a telephone interview with a Neusroom correspondent on Saturday evening, saying “nobody was harassed, nobody was arrested.”
When the correspondent insisted that some of his colleagues who are journalists as well as peaceful protesters were harassed by the police and told Odumosu there are multiple videos on the internet to confirm the claim, the Commissioner denied.
“I was there myself for more than two hours and I briefed all the journalists so nobody was harassed, nobody arrested,” says Odumosu who declined to give further comment.
