Lagos State Police Command has denied reports that officers attached to the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) fired live ammunition at residents protesting the demolition of hundreds of structures in Makoko and Oworonshoki, near the State House of Assembly in Alausa.
The large-scale protest took place yesterday in Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos, with affected residents from Makoko, Oworonshoki, Owode-Onirin, Oko Baba, and other communities marching to demand adequate relocation arrangements, fair compensation, and accountability for lives allegedly lost during earlier demolition drives.
A graphic image of a demonstrator being assisted with what appeared to be a leg wound fueled intense online anger and speculation that live rounds had been used. Separate accounts also reported multiple arrests, prompting sharp criticism from human rights organizations, civil society activists, and ordinary citizens on social media.
Initial eyewitness accounts and preliminary media coverage indicated that security personnel deployed teargas to disperse the gathering once protesters reached the Assembly premises, though disputes persisted over the precise cause of injuries and the level of force applied.
The rebuttal came from Commissioner of Police Jimoh Olohundare during an appearance on a popular television program on Thursday, directly countering viral social media posts and a widely shared photograph showing an injured protester.
Commissioner Olohundare emphasized that the police response remained restrained and focused on preserving public safety, firmly denying any use of firearms while confirming the deployment of standard non-lethal crowd-control measures.
The police commissioner said, “Protest is good. We know protest is freedom of expression and part of the essentials of democracy. For every protest that happens in Lagos, we have police to protect it in a peaceful way. So no gun was fired.”
The controversy has intensified public discourse surrounding demolition and resettlement policies across Lagos, heightening demands for greater transparency, community involvement, and humane approaches in addressing urban development challenges.
