WHY WE USED TEAR GAS AT THE LEKKI TOLLGATE DURING MOHBAD’S PROCESSION: LAGOS POLICE

Babatunji Wusu –

The reason why several people at the Lekki Tollgate rushed the area to demand justice and pay respects to the late musician Ilerioluwa Aloba, well known as Mohbad, has been revealed by the Lagos Police Command.

A number of fans, friends, and fellow artists attended the candlelight parade held on Thursday, September 21, to remember Mohbad, who unfortunately passed away. However, the event apparently descended into mayhem as police intervened to disperse the throng.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Benjamin Hundeyin, commented on the situation in a post on X (previously Twitter) on Friday. He called the report a “false narrative.”

He said that the candlelight procession’s organizers had been told to end it at Muri Okunola Park on Victoria Island by 8 p.m. at the latest. He continued, “It became troubling that after the procession duly ended at Muri Okunola Park as agreed, with the police providing optimal security throughout, some persons started gathering at the Lekki Toll Gate with intent to manifest objectives extraneous to the #justiceforMohbad initiative.”

The Lagos State Police Command invited the procession organizers, who returned and worked with the authorities on the ground to convince the people at the toll gate to withdraw quietly because it was a clear violation of the laid-out agreement.

Additionally, the organizers requested that everyone leave via social media, making it quite clear that this was not a protest but rather a procession that had successfully come to an end.

“This persuading and appeal went on for hours, and the organizers and police responded with resistance in both words and deeds. By this time, Lekki’s entrance and exit lanes were completely shut.

“Vehicular traffic on the perpetually congested freeway had come to a complete halt, causing traffic to build up. The red flags and early warning indications of complete disorder and anarchy were obvious because I’d been down this road before, had experience with comparable situations, and had studied the crowd’s pattern.

“Therefore, after verbal persuasion failed, we used the least harmful technique of crowd dispersal—the use of tear gas—in order to fulfill our responsibility to preserve life and property, maintain law and order, and prevent crimes. No live ammunition was shot at all! In order to control the unruly mob, the police used best practices for crowd management. No one was hurt, and no lives were lost, he continued.