Police arrest 23 #EndSARS protesters, recover guns, charms in Ogun

Operatives of the Ogun State Police Command have arrested 23 #End SARS protesters who disrupted the Owu Day Festival which was attended by former President Olusegun Obasanjo and other prominent Nigerians on Saturday. The protesters gathered in their hundreds as early as 07:00am at Panseke area of Abeokuta Metropolis on Saturday in continuation of their […]

Operatives of the Ogun State Police Command have arrested 23 #End SARS protesters who disrupted the Owu Day Festival which was attended by former President Olusegun Obasanjo and other prominent Nigerians on Saturday.

The protesters gathered in their hundreds as early as 07:00am at Panseke area of Abeokuta Metropolis on Saturday in continuation of their protest against the activities of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).

They stormed the venue of the annual festival, barricaded the entrance and demanded an audience with the former president, but violence broke out when security agents, comprising the police and men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), shot into the air to disperse the protesters.

The protesters damaged the back windshield of the deputy governors’ official car in the fracas.

In a statement, the spokesman of the police in the state, Mr. Abimbola Oyeyemi, disclosed that the protesters also stormed the SARS office at Magbon “where they fired gunshots at the men and injured one Sgt. Akabudike Augustine.”

He added that operatives of SARS dispersed the protesters and arrested 23 among them, and that, “Some of the vehicles used by the protesters were abandoned at the SARS office and have been recovered and searched. Three guns: one pump-action and two locally made pistols, some rounds of ammunition and assorted charms were recovered in one of the vehicles with registration number Lagos KRD 551GJ.”

He further said the Commissioner of Police, Edward Ajogun, had appealed to parents, community leaders and stakeholders to call their wards to order.