Protesters and fans of the late Nigerian singer, Ilerioluwa Aloba known as Mohbad, were on Thursday night allegedly dispersed with teargas at the Lekki Tollgate, Lagos State.
The protesters held a candlelight procession in honour of the late singer on Thursday.
While announcing the protest on Monday night via the official X handle of the deceased, the management said it did “appreciate the outpouring of love from fans across the world to the ones who’ve organised events in their communities as a way to honour and pay respect to our shining light we say thank you. Join us for Mohbad’s candlelight procession and tribute concert.”
The protesters were dressed in white T-shirts played and danced to the songs of the late artiste, as part of their last respect and tribute.
However, a voice in a video seen by our correspondent from a popular skit maker, Oluwadolaz, claimed, “We have been dispersed with teargas…”
While some said the teargas cannisters were fired by police officers in the state, a video shared on X through actress Iyabo Ojo’s Instagram live video and seen by our correspondent had one of those who attended the candle light saying, “I came out for my brother, Mohbad. This is the cabman that helped me. They fired teargas. These people came from the back. We don’t know them. I don’t even know them. All the police officers were there securing us.”
Explaining further, another lady said, “We were sitting in front of the tollgate. We had a lot of police officers there. So, where the teargas came from, we don’t see it. We just saw the tear gas from the back. No car could move. It was this cab that helped us.”
Meanwhile, a post by a popular On-Air Personality, Do2dtun, on his X handle read, “Honesty over Honesty Nigerians do not listen. WE DO THE MOST. This procession ended at Muri Okunola Park over 3 hours ago. We ended and all left. Some still went to converge at the Lekki toll gate. It is not a protest. It is a CANDLELIGHT PROCESSION.”
The candlelight procession which began at 5 pm was organised by the management of the late singer while a tribute concert commenced 8 pm Muri Okunola Park.
Efforts to reach the police spokesperson, Benjamin Hundeyin, proved abortive as he did not pick up his calls or respond to text messages, as of the time of filling this report.
Quadri Olaitan is a journalist and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering news, public affairs, and human-interest stories.
