Federal Government has said it would resist a fresh protest at Lekki tollgate in Lagos, because chances of any peaceful protest being hijacked by those planning to destablise the country are high.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, made this known during a press conference in Abuja on Thursday.
Plans by some youths to stage a fresh protest at Lekki tollgate on Saturday, February 13, have been trending on social media.
The youths said the fresh demonstration is to protest against a court order for the reopening of Lekki toll gate, where some EndSARS protesters were allegedly shot dead on October 20, 2020.
But the minister at the event, claimed that some activists in the country have been receiving help from counterparts in order to destabilise the country.
In the text of his speech from the conference, posted on the official Twitter handle of the Ministry of Information and Culture and titled ‘Perpetration of violence under the guise of EndSARS: Never again’, Mohammed said:
“As you may be aware, some EndSARS proponents have given notice of their plan to return to Lagos – Lekki Toll Gate to be specific – on Saturday, February 13th 2021.
“The ‘Occupy Lekki Toll Gate’ flyers have been circulating online, with the proponents threatening that ‘Lagos will burn again’.
“Let me be clear, while peaceful protests are the constitutional rights of Nigerians, violent protests are not. At this time, the chances that any peaceful protest will be hijacked are very high.
“Based on the intelligence at the disposal of the Federal Government, some Nigerian activists have linked up with others outside Nigeria, including subversive elements, with a view to destabilizing the country. We cannot and must not allow this to happen.”Lagos will burn” again.”