Residents of Onosa community in Lagos State’s Ibeju-Lekki area erupted in protest on Friday after police officers allegedly shot dead an unarmed man during an incident that left two others critically injured.
The shooting, which reportedly occurred on Thursday night, sparked outrage among youths who trooped out in their hundreds at daybreak, barricading major roads and disrupting vehicular movement.
Eyewitnesses told PLATFORM TIMES that the protest began after news of the victim’s death spread across the community. In video clips obtained from the scene, residents were seen chanting slogans and setting up roadblocks with tyres, while the lifeless body of the deceased was displayed inside a vehicle.
“The protest was against the police in Ibeju-Lekki after the killing of an unarmed citizen. It happened at Onosa,” one resident said.
Another witness confirmed that “two people are in the hospital now,” adding that their conditions remain critical.
Security operatives were later deployed to the area to forestall further breakdown of law and order.
The incident has once again drawn attention to the recurring issue of police brutality in Nigeria. Rights groups, including Amnesty International, have repeatedly raised concerns over the excessive use of force, unlawful arrests, and extrajudicial killings by the police despite government promises of reform.
The killings also rekindled memories of the October 2020 #EndSARS protests, during which thousands of youths demanded the disbandment of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a notorious police unit accused of widespread abuses.
Although the Federal Government announced the scrapping of SARS, critics say incidents of police violence have persisted across the country.
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