By Vera Chinonso Aliyu, YeyeNews.com, October 22, 2021
The government of Lagos State paid the Lagos State Police Command twenty thousand naira for every arrest made at the Lekki tollgate during the #endsars memorial protest. The revelation was made to YeyeNews.com by a Lagos State Neighborhood Safety Agency (LNSA) official who was unhappy that his outfit was not included in the largesse despite their participation in the arrests.
“During a meeting with all security agencies on the eve of the planned memorial protests the Lagos government representative informed us that the governor will be giving 20k for every arrest made at the tollgate. So the more arrests the more the money”, the official narrated. “But now that the money has been released, those greedy police people effectively sidelined us from the largesse”.
A police inspector who pleaded anonymity told YeyeNews.com reporter that the LNSA were only brought in to assist the police in handling logistics. “All the raids and arrests of people around the tollgate were done by the police. We have evidence of everything. The only time their people were involved they went to break a man’s head, which people are now blaming the police for. They should now their place and stop trying to reap where they did not sow”.
A Lagos State government official who don’t want his name in print expressed satisfaction with the successful operation of the police in stopping the protest. “The method of random arrest deployed by the police proved very effective. This was enabled by the monetary incentive placed on each arrest by the governor. The governor is determined to do everything possible to protect the investment of our party leader. He doesn’t want the fate of his predecessor to befall him”, the official told YeyeNews.com reporter.
Meanwhile, one of the innocent passerby arrested and brutalized by the police has vowed to seek legal redress. “This unlawful arrest will not go without consequences for the police and the Lagos government. I have contacted my lawyer and claims for exemplary damages will be filed soon”, he told YeyeNews.com reporter.
