The Lagos State Police Command says no protester sustained injuries during Wednesday’s anti-demolition protest in Ikeja, despite circulating images and videos suggesting otherwise.
In a statement on Thursday, Abimbola Adebisi, Lagos police spokesperson, said officers deployed “minimum force” and showed restraint amid “violent conduct” by protesters.
The police spokesperson said the protesters “deliberately created” the situation that unfolded in Alausa.
“The unlawful blockage of the Awolowo Way down to the House of Assembly Road prevented people who have medical needs from getting to the hospital,” Adebisi said.
“People who were to travel out of the country, transiting through Awolowo Way to the airport, were also prevented from proceeding on their journey.”
She said officers acted lawfully to maintain order after protesters obstructed major roads.
“The Police detachment, in ensuring law and order, exercised restraint in the face of violent confrontation by this group,” Adebisi said.
She identified Taiwo Hassan, activist nicknamed ‘Soweto’, as the protest leader who allegedly instructed protesters to sit on the highway.
“The arrowhead, one Taiwo Hassan nicknamed ‘Soweto’, ordered the protesters to sit on the public highway, in front of the Lagos State House of Assembly, preventing all road users access to their destinations,” she said.
“At this point, the detachment of the Police had no other option than to use minimum force to disperse them with the use of teargas and subsequently opened the road for the benefit of the public, and normalcy was promptly restored.
“No death or injury to the protesters was recorded because of the use of minimum force.”
Recall that the protest began at the Ikeja under-bridge over demolition exercises in Makoko, Owode Onirin, Oworonshoki, Otumara and Baba-Ijora.
Demonstrators marched through Obafemi Awolowo Road to the Lagos assembly complex in Alausa with placards calling for justice and an end to demolitions.
Moshood Jimoh, commissioner of police in Lagos, denied protesters access to the assembly complex to “prevent hoodlums from hijacking the demonstration”.
However, Hassan Soweto told Jimoh that members of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) were allowed entry during the December 17, 2025 protest.
The lawmakers later emerged to address protesters but withdrew amid boos and renewed demands for access.
But the police officers subsequently dispersed the crowd with teargas.
Adebisi said police arrested Soweto and David Frank for “conspiracy and conduct likely to cause breach of the peace, threatening violence and instigating disorder, and inciting the public to cause breakdown of law and order”.
She said the suspects will be charged to court.
“The Lagos State Police Command wishes to set the records straight that all the actions taken were done in accordance with the law and in protection of public safety and public order,” Adebisi said.
“The right to protest and freedom of expression is one of the essentials of democracy for the benefit of all Nigerians but should be done in a peaceful manner without causing undue hardship on the general public and other innocent Lagosians.”
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