Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Lagos; and Funso Doherty, gubernatorial candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) in the city; were among a group of residents and journalists teargassed by police at the Lekki tollgate on Tuesday morning.

The politicians had joined a wreath-laying memorial for victims of the October 2020 #EndSARS protest.

The sixth anniversary procession was organised by the Enough is Enough (EiE) movement.

Everyone soon scampered for safety before the wreaths could be laid however, as police officers who had converged on the tollgate before the memorial would commence, immediately made it clear that the event would not be holding, by dispersing the participants with teargas canisters.

In the ensuing melee, some persons were injured, with others struggling to breathe amid the fumes, as traffic began to snarl on the busy expressway.

According to the Lagos state judicial panel of inquiry’s report on the Lekki incident of October 20, 2020, nine people were confirmed dead, while four others were listed as missing and presumed dead.

The nine listed as dead are Victor Sunday Ibanga, Abuta Solomon, Jide, Olalekan Abideen Ashafa, Olamilekan Ajasa, Kolade Salami, Folorunsho Olabisi, Kenechukwu Ugoh and Nathaniel Solomon.

The four listed as missing and presumed dead were Abiodun Adesanya, Ifeanyi Nicholas Eji, Tola and Wisdom.

The organisers said they had arrived at the venue with 15 wreaths, including one for Pelumi Onifade, the journalist who was shot dead in Lagos during the nationwide anti-police brutality protests.

The #EndSARS uprising across Nigeria riveted global attention on police brutality in Africa’s most populous nation, and forced the federal government into disbanding the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) — a notorious police unit that had gained infamy for human rights violations.