Armed thugs attack, injure, #endsars protesters in Ikeja and Abuja

 

A protests against police brutality continued to spread throughout the nation, armed hoodlums attacked #EndSARS protesters in Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory on Wednesday.

In Lagos, as the protesters were making their feelings known opposite the state secretariat complex on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, some hoodlums suddenly appeared with cutlasses and advanced in their direction in a bid to disperse the crowd.

A shouting match ensued between the hoodlums and the protesters, with the latter standing their ground and repelling the attackers.

One of the protesters, John Ademola, told one of our correspondents that the hoodlums stormed the protest venue to cause commotion, adding that three of them were apprehended.

Another protester, Adama Christiana, alleged that the hoodlums were paid by external people bent on inciting violence.

Some protesters, however, caused gridlock on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and around the tollgate area of the Lekki-Epe Expressway and the Lekki-Ikoyi Link Bridge, among other areas in Lagos State.

Similarly, three busloads of thugs attacked protesters in Abuja and injured many of them, while also disrupting the peaceful rally.

The thugs, who stormed the venue around 1pm, wielded knives, sticks and other weapons, chased away the #EndSARS campaigners.

The protesters had blocked the Julius Berger roundabout, Wuse, with disused tyres and stones, and also prevented motorists from plying the route as they occupied the bridge.

They were singing solidarity songs when their attackers emerged and assaulted them.

The attackers, who were speaking Hausa language, also vandalised about seven cars belonging to the protesters.

An eyewitness, Francis Udi, said the protesters ran away on seeing the thugs, who were conveyed in buses to the scene.

He said, “Though there is a police post close to the roundabout, the personnel were slow in responding as the thugs vandalised vehicles parked in the vicinity. They shattered the front and back windscreens with sticks, while issuing threats against the protesters, who fled the scene.”

PUNCH Metro gathered that the police later took control of the situation, while the injured protesters were taken to hospital.

Some hours after the attack, another set of thugs arrived the scene to unleash violence on the protesters, but they were resisted and five of them were apprehended and beaten thoroughly.

A leader of the protesters, Raphael Adebayo, said five thugs were caught and beaten, adding that they were also taken to hospital for treatment.

“We were attacked by sponsored thugs and they vandalised our cars, but we eventually nabbed four or five of them. After catching them, we beat them very well and they were injured, so, we took them to the National Hospital,” he explained.

Adebayo insisted that the National Assembly would be responsible for the repair of the damaged cars.

He stated, “We are (presently) at the National Assembly to hand over the seven vandalised cars; the Assembly must fix our cars. We will park them there; we are not collecting money from any legislator. Then, tomorrow (Thursday), we will come back and continue our #EndSARS, #EndSWAT, #EndPoliceBrutality protests.”

Commenting on the attack, the Commissioner of Police, Federal Capital Territory, Bala Ciroma, said five vehicles were vandalised, adding that the police had yet to arrest the perpetrators.

According to him, the incident was a clash between “pro-SARS and #EndSARS protesters,” noting that a verbal exchange almost led to violence, which was averted by the police.