Akintoye says two Ojota protesters killed, police announce arrest
Professor Banji Akintoye, the former leader of self-determination group Yoruba Nation, says two youths died in the Monday protest, held at Ojota in Lagos State.
Akintoye stepped down as the group’s leader recently, claiming that some extremists within its fold had hijacked the organisation.
In an interview broadcast on YouTube, Akintoye, said police killed two protestors.
He said, “Their purposes are clear; self-determination for the Yoruba nation. Their methods have always been clear. A peaceful rally, no weapons, no violence of any kind, no regarding the police as enemies, no regarding any officials of the Nigerian state as enemies, those were the conditions upon which the young men gathered this morning to carry out a rally.
“Even before they settled down as they were arriving at the centre where they wanted to carry out the rally, the Nigeria police approached them and started shooting them. Already, we learnt that two young men have been killed as a result of the police fire.”
At the same time, the Lagos police command says it arrested four persons connected to the protest. Benjamin Hundeyin, the command’s spokesperson, stated this during a television interview but stopped short at admitting the police killed any protestor. Hundeyin added that protestors allegedly private vehicles and shot at police patrol vans.
He reiterated the command’s warning that disturbances would not be tolerated in the state.