INDEPENDENCE: Police ban rallies, protests in Lagos

The Lagos State Police Command has banned protests and rallies in the state on October 1.

The command’s spokesman, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, who disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday, said the state’s Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, had instructed officers and men of the command “to disallow any unlawful societies, under whatever disguise, from staging rallies or protests in the state on Thursday.

According to him, the police commissioner gave the directive during a security meeting with the Area Commanders, Divisional Police Officers, and Heads of Department at the command headquarters in Ikeja.

The statement read: “The command will not allow any gatherings, rallies, or protests against the sovereignty of Nigeria in the state just as he announced the cancellation of the 60th Independence anniversary parade by the Lagos State government.

“CP Hakeem Odumosu also warned parents and guardians to warn their children and wards to desist from any rallies, protests or be mobilised to wage war against the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, or else they (parents or guardians) of any youths arrested for such activities will be prosecuted.

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“The CP, however, appealed to the general public to be law-abiding, desist from violence and any act that is capable of disrupting the sovereignty of Nigeria”.

Meanwhile, the convener of the #RevolutionNow group, Omoyele Sowore, said the planned protests would hold in Lagos and other parts of the country.

He said on his Twitter handle that the Lagos police commissioner does not have the right to stop Nigerians from express their misgiving about bad governance in the country.

Sowore wrote: “#occupynigeria2 Lagos Mass Action Will hold as planned, we have told the @PoliceNG Commissioner of Lagos state that he does (not have) the right to prevent Nigerians from protesting about misgovernance in their country #Revolutionnow.”

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