Tears, teargas and tension returned to the Lekki Toll Gate on Tuesday as security operatives brutally dispersed participants marking the sixth anniversary of the historic #EndSARS protests.
Teargas Scatters Memorial
The solemn gathering, organised by the Enough is Enough (EiE) movement to honour youths who paid the ultimate price during the 2020 nationwide uprising against police brutality, descended into chaos when operatives fired teargas canisters directly into the crowd.
Activists, many clad in white and carrying placards, were forced to scamper for safety as thick smoke engulfed the iconic toll gate, the epicentre of the 2020 protests that shook Nigeria.
Present at the disrupted memorial were prominent political figures including the governorship candidates of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) in Lagos, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour and Funso Doherty, who had joined youths to demand justice.
We Will Not Be Silenced
The commemoration was meant to be a peaceful reflection on the struggle against the excesses of the now-disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), which had triggered one of the largest youth-led movements in Nigeria’s history.
Though the teargas forced a temporary retreat and the area is now calm, the message from the activists was defiant.
“They can fire teargas but they cannot kill the spirit of #EndSARS,” one protester shouted as they regrouped away from the toll gate, vowing that the fight for police reform and accountability is far from over.
