Bullets reportedly fired by a security operative dispersing Yoruba Nation agitators at Ojota, Lagos on Saturday has killed a yoghurt seller, identified as Jumoke.
The victim,14,was reportedly displaying drinks at a shop when the bullet hit her.
Her was covered with a piece of cloth as a crowd gathered at the spot.
The protest which took place on Saturday at Freedom Park Ojota, Lagos, started with singing and chanting, but later went rowdy as the police engaged in sporadic gunshots and teargas shots, disrupting the protest.
The commissioner of police, Hakeem Odumosu ,who spoke earlier with journalists said that the police were not there to disperse the protesters rather to provide security and ensure that hoodlums did not hijack the protest.
“We are not here to disperse the protesters but we want to ensure that there is no breach of peach and that hoodlums do not hijack the protest to perpetrate crime,” he said
Odumosu,who also denied having received any letter within the last 48 hours from the conveners of the protest, notifying them officially about the protest. “In the last 48 hours no letter was communicated to us on this protest by the conveners.” Odumosi said.
The police who were reported to have stationed at the park very early Saturday morning with their vehicles positioned at strategic locations might have scared away the protesters as not many people made it to the park, as expected.
Situation became charged when some youths engaged the police with their complaints about the inability of the government of the day to meet the needs of young people and the fact that the government has alienated the young people from governance with rising unemployment.
The commissioner of police assured them that their grievances would be communicated to the right authority, but as the session became violent, the police dispersed the protesters’ with teargas and gunshots.
