We’re yet to confirm tear-gas incident at Tejuosho market protest – Police

By Efe Onodjae

The Lagos State Police Command has said it is yet to confirm reports that its officers fired tear gas to disperse protesting traders at Tejuosho Market, Yaba, Lagos, on Thursday.

Speaking with Vanguard on a phone call, the Command’s spokesperson, superintendent of Police SP Abimbola Adebisi, explained that the report “just came to her table” and she would need to verify the details before issuing an official statement.

Earlier in the day, traders at the popular market had staged a protest over prolonged power outages that they claimed were crippling their businesses. Eyewitnesses said the demonstration, which began peacefully, turned chaotic when police officers allegedly deployed tear gas to disperse the crowd.

Some traders were seen online by our correspondent scampering for safety, coughing, and abandoning their wares as canisters went off within the market. “We were only shouting ‘No light, no business’ when suddenly police started firing gas,” Mrs. Folashade Adekunle, one of the traders, told Vanguard, lamenting that perishable goods were destroyed in the process.

Officials of the Lagos State Electricity Board (EB), however, attributed the outage to a technical fault on the distribution line supplying Tejuosho Market and assured that power would be restored within 24 hours.

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