Police fire teargas to disperse #EndSARS memorial at Lekki Toll Gate

Police officers fired teargas at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos on Tuesday, dispersing participants at a memorial to victims of the #EndSARS protests and preventing them from laying wreaths.

The Punch newspaper reported that residents, journalists and political figures had gathered for the event organised by the Enough is Enough movement when officers fired teargas canisters.

Among those affected were Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, the African Democratic Congress governorship candidate in Lagos State, and Funso Doherty of the Nigeria Democratic Congress.

A video sighted showed participants scrambling for safety as the teargas spread across the area, according to the report.

A PREMIUM TIMES reporter who visited the toll gate at 11: 15 a. m. on the day saw police officers at the scene but could not find any of the organisers. The reporter also percieved a smell of teargas but could not establish its source at the time.

The organisers had scheduled a wreath-laying ceremony for 11 a.m. to honour people who died or went missing during the 2020 protests.

They planned to lay 15 wreaths: nine for people listed as dead in connection with the Lekki incident, four for those listed as missing and presumed dead, one for journalist Pelumi Onifade and another for other unidentified victims.

The nine people listed as dead were Victor Sunday Ibanga, Abuta Solomon, Jide, Olalekan Abideen Ashafa, Olamilekan Ajasa, Kolade Salami, Folorunsho Olabisi, Kenechukwu Ugoh and Nathaniel Solomon.

Those listed as missing and presumed dead were Abiodun Adesanya, Ifeanyi Nicholas Eji, Tola and Wisdom.

Rights groups demand accountability

The incident occurred as civil society organisations renewed calls for justice for victims of police abuses and the implementation of recommendations arising from investigations into the Lekki incident.

The Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) said the disbandment of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) had not ended allegations of police brutality, torture, extortion, unlawful detention and extrajudicial killings.

In a statement on Tuesday, the group called for the enforcement of the Police Act 2020 and the Anti-Torture Act 2017. It also urged authorities to investigate allegations of abuse, prosecute officers found culpable and strengthen civilian oversight of the police.

RULAAC also raised concerns about alleged abuses at police detention facilities, including Tiger Base in Owerri, Imo State. It called for detainees to have access to lawyers and relatives and urged the police to keep proper records of arrests and transfers and comply with court judgements.

Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) called on the federal and Lagos State governments to apologise for the Lekki shootings and provide redress for victims.

In a separate statement on Monday, the organisation urged the authorities to conduct independent investigations, prosecute those found responsible and compensate people killed or injured during the crackdown.

CAPPA said the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry’s report implicated security personnel in deaths and injuries at the toll gate. It criticised the federal government’s rejection of the panel’s findings and the Lagos State Government’s White Paper, which disputed aspects of the casualty records.

The group also called for the implementation of a July 2024 judgment of the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice which, according to CAPPA, found Nigeria liable for human rights violations and ordered compensation and fresh investigations.

CAPPA renewed its call for justice for Pelumi Onifade, a journalist arrested by officers of the Lagos State Task Force on 24 October 2020 while covering events at the Ministry of Agriculture Abattoir in Oko-Oba, Agege. It called for an investigation into his death and the prosecution of anyone found responsible.

The organisation also urged the authorities to preserve the Lekki Toll Gate as a national memorial and introduce safeguards, including body-worn cameras for police officers.

Recurrent violations

Tuesday’s dispersal brings back the memory of abuses of past #EndSARS memorial attendees by the police.

In July 2025, the Federal High Court in Lagos ordered the Inspector-General of Police and the then Lagos State Commissioner of Police Moshood Jimoh to jointly pay N10 million in damages to protesters whose rights were violated during a memorial procession at the toll gate on 20 October 2024.

The judge Musa Kakaki held that the arrests violated the protesters’ constitutional right to peaceful assembly and association.

The applicants told the court that police officers used teargas and live ammunition to disperse them, assaulted some participants and detained them before releasing them without charge.

The judge also ruled that an earlier Lagos State High Court order restricting protests to designated parks could not be applied retrospectively to the gathering.

READ ALSO: Six years after #EndSARS, police impunity persists – RULAAC

The suit was filed by 22 individuals and three organisations: the Education Rights Campaign, Take It Back Movement and Campaign for the Defence of Human Rights.

Police arrested demonstrators during anniversary events in 2021 and arrested protesters and journalists in 2022.

Six years after #EndSARS

The #EndSARS protests began in October 2020, when young Nigerians took to the streets to demand an end to police brutality, particularly abuses attributed to SARS.

The federal government announced the unit’s disbandment on 11 October 2020, but demonstrations continued as protesters demanded accountability.

The shooting at the Lekki Toll Gate on 20 October 2020 became one of the defining moments of the protests. Investigations into the incident and demands for justice have continued in the years since.