Lagos Police Command has threatened a showdown with Yoruba Nation agitators at the mega rally planned for Saturday at Ojota park.
Commissioner of Police (CP) Hakeem Odumosu, while reacting to a statement by the agitators that their rally would hold and police had a responsibility to prevent hoodlums from hijacking same, warned the secessionist group to steer clear of Lagos.
Odumosu had during a joint press briefing with Lagos Commissioner for Information, Gbenga Omotoso, on Thursday, outlawed the planned rally on grounds that intelligence report revealed plans to hijack the protest.
Reiterating this position on Friday, the CP, who addressed a security gathering comprising operatives of the police, Department of State Services (DSS) and Federal Road Safety Commission at the Command headquarters, said they were prepared for the agitators.
He said security agents were embarking on a show-of-force as a warning to the organisers of the mega rally or any group of persons planning to stage any rally or procession in the state.
A statement later issued by the spokesman for the Command, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said: “The Command and other security agencies, including the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC), FRSC and DSS have put measures in place to prevent any act of lawlessness, oppression and intimidation, of any kind, in the state on the said date, 3rd July 2021 and beyond as Lagos State cannot afford to record and experience the violence orchestrated by some individuals during the 2020 #ENDSARS protest that led to massive destruction of lives and properties in the state.
“The Command still reiterates its stance that anyone caught participating or facilitating the so-called mega rally in Lagos State will be dealt with within the ambits of the law.”
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