Armed soldiers and mobile policemen, on Tuesday, took over Gani Fawehinmi Park in Ojota, Lagos, proposed venue for the continuation of the #RevolutionNow protest in the state.
Daily Trust recalls that the protesters were forced to reschedule venue for the protest after they were dislodged from using the National Stadium, Surulere yesterday by heavily armed security personnel.
Daily Trust reports that a video editor and camera man with SaharaReporters, Victor Ogungbenro, was, on Monday, arrested alongside eight other protesters by a combined team of soldiers and police officers deployed to thwart the planned ‘RevolutionNow’ protest.
In a message widely circulated on social media yesterday, some of the protesters in Lagos had said they will continue the protest today at the Gani Fawehinmi Park.
Our correspondent, who moved around the Lagos mainland earlier today, noticed heavy presence of security personnel in major recreation parks and notable places across the state.
At the Gani Fawehinmi Park in Ojota, a combined team of soldiers, drawn from Army’s OP MESA team, and mobile policemen were stationed around the area.
The armed soldiers were seen in four Army’s OP MESA Hilux strategically positioned in the area, as the entrances to the Park were locked.
But two mobile policemen, dressed in their combatant vest and grey trousers, were seen sitting inside the Park around 10am.
ALSO READ: #REVOLUTIONNOW PROTEST: SECURITY AGENTS BARRICADE NATIONAL STADIUM, LAGOS
Our correspondent also observed that some heavily armed policemen were stationed with an armoured personnel carrier at the road linking commuters from the Lagos – Ibadan expressway to Ikorodu Road at Ojota.
Also at the Kanu Ndubuisi Park in Alausa, policemen from the state command were also strategically positioned there while passers-by go about their daily routines undisturbed.
However, a combined team of mobile policemen and operatives from the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of the state police command were seen patrolling the city in a convoy led by an armoured personnel carrier.
Efforts by our reporter to contact the organisers of the protest weren’t yielding result as at the time of filing this report, as their mobile numbers were unreachable.
