Mile-12 Disruption Was Caused By Hoodlums, According To An LSPMA Official
The Lagos State Park Management Agency (LSPMA), Mile-12 Branch, denied on Friday that any of its employees had taken part in the early-Friday demonstration over the continuing shortage of Nigerian currency notes.
Friday’s early-morning drama was caused by several hoodlums who were protesting the lack of Naira notes in the region.
Adekunle Matiminu, the chairman of the agency’s Mile-12 Branch, verified the demonstration to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos and claimed it was carried out by some hoodlums before they were dispersed.
No employees of Matiminu’s organization participated in the demonstration, he said; instead, they helped the police disperse the protesting hoodlums.
“Any problem in this region is not wanted by the personnel of the Lagos State Park Management Agency, Mile-12. We want peace.
“‘Area Boys’ are the protesters. They don’t belong to our group. These are the ones setting tires on fire nearby. But we drove them from this area.
“They should not raise disturbance here if they want money; they know where to go and obtain it.
“They are not welcome here. You can now clearly observe how calm the area is. We also have a lot of police officers here,” he said.
According to a NAN correspondent who observed the situation in Ojota, Ketu, and Mile-12, Area H Commander ACP Mohammed Sanusi was spotted in charge of a group of police officers from various divisions.
Similar to Mile-11, where human and vehicular activity was proceeding without incident, more than 15 patrol cars from the police and OP MESA were spotted stationed at both sides of the Mile-12 Bridge for swift action.
While we don’t know who was engaged in the demonstration, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, the Police Public Relations Officer for Lagos State, said that “normalcy has restored to the area with the deployment of extra operatives.”
“Full restoration of vehicular and pedestrian freedom. To avoid any collapse of law and order, our officers and soldiers are still on the ground. “If you see something, say something,” is a saying.
Indeed, our soldiers are present. Units for reinforcement have been sent out. I urge the people to exercise caution while we actively monitor and control the situation.
