By Dotun Adebayo-
Demonstrators in Nigeria have attacked police and burnt down a police station and police vehicles in Yaba.
Schools in the city of Lagos, which only recently reopened last week, were ordered to close as a result of the protests. Protesters are complaining seriously about excess brutality from the Nigerian police force, which has seen a number of civilians killed. The initially peaceful protests turned ugly as anger started boiling over by demonstrators who feel their cries are falling on deaf ears.
Lagos governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu said that criminals had hijacked the demonstrations “to unleash mayhem on our state”.
The angry demonstrators, demanding an end to police brutality, are demanding wider reforms in the security forces as well as changes in the way that the country is run.
In a series of tweets, Mr Sanwo-Olu said that he had “watched with shock how what began as a peaceful #EndSARS protest has degenerated into a monster threatening the well-being of our society”.
“Lives and limbs have been lost as criminals and miscreants are now hiding under the umbrella of these protests to unleash mayhem on our state… we will not watch and allow anarchy in our dear state.”
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has established a judicial panel of inquiry to look into cases of police brutality.
On Monday, he urged the protesters to leave the streets for more dialogue.
The police in Lagos has said that “all security agencies have deployed adequate personnel to take charge and enforce the curfew across the state”.
A statement added that the protests have been taken over “by hoodlums who want to run down the state and the police command will resist such state of anarchy, unrest and brouhaha with all powers within the ambit of the law”.