TENSION has been building up in Lagos State over the intention of some angry youths to stage #OccupyLekkiTollGate protest in response to the imminent reopening of the toll plaza by the Lagos State Government.

Another group had announced its plan to stage a counter #Defend Lagos and #Dem No Born their Papa Well  protests at the same venue, thus setting the perfect stage for possible violence and breakdown of law and order.

The Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry into the Lekki Toll Gate shootings of October 20, 2020 headed by Justice Doris Okuwobi, had last week Saturday February 6, 2021, ordered reopening of the plaza which has been idle for two and half months.

Some members of the panel led by rights activist, Ebun Olu Adegboruwa, SAN, had opposed the reopening, as the purpose of setting up the panel had not been achieved.

The move for the protest gathered momentum in the social media on the perception that if the Toll Plaza is reopened without first getting justice for the #EndSARS protesters killed and injured there, the purpose of the panel will be lost and the tragedy swept under the proverbial carpet.

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We call on both sides to shelve their protests in the interest of public peace and to avoid the obvious unpleasant consequences.

Prevention is better than cure. There is no way these protests can hold without violent clashes taking place. The sabre-rattling being deployed so far shows that forces that feed fat on crises are already at work.

This same interests had unsuccessfully tried to twist the peaceful #EndSARS protests last year (which was later hijacked by hoodlums) as an ethnic attack on Lagos.

We must do everything in our power to avoid a showdown of this nature because it will only worsen ethnic suspicions and lead to more destruction of lives and government and private property by hoodlums.

Lagos State has not yet recovered from the hijacked #EndSARS protests which cost it billions. The mindless looting of shops which wrecked thousands of businesses and led to massive job losses will be re-enacted in the wake of any further protests. We must desist from giving the criminals and merchants of mischief chance to carry out their evil agenda. Meanwhile, the LASG should keep the reopening of the toll plaza on hold.

The concerned youths should listen to Adegboruwa and others representing them at the Panel who are also calling for a shelving of the protests because the Panel is yet to conclude its assignment.

With the cooperation of all sides, justice for the dead and injured is possible, while the Lagos State Government is given maximum support to rebuild the state.

Vanguard News Nigeria