MOHBAD: Police defends use of teargas to disperse crowd at Lekki toll gate

The Lagos State Police Command, on Friday, defended the use of teargas to disperse an army of protesters who converged at the Lekki Toll Gate after the candlelight procession in honour of late artiste, Mohbad.

SP Benjamin Hundeyin, the Lagos Police spokesman, spoke on the issue via a lengthy statement issued on Friday.

The protesters dressed in white T-shirts played and danced to the songs of the late artiste, as part of their last respect and tribute, while calling for justice.

Read Also: FACT CHECK: Are these Sokoto residents protesting Mohbad’s death?

The candlelight procession which began at 5 pm was organised by the management of the late singer while a tribute concert commenced at 8pm at Muri Okunola Park.

However, some of the procession moved to the Lekki Toll Gate against the initial plans of the management; this led to an intervention by the Police who dispersed the crowd using tear gas.

In his statement, Hundeyin said, “Having gone down this road before, having learnt from previous similar encounters, and having studied the pattern in the crowd, the red flags and early warning signs of total chaos and anarchy were discernible.

“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.

“Not a single live ammunition was fired! The police adopted crowd management best practices in engaging the unruly crowd. No life was lost neither was there any injury.”

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