Just In: Police, Thugs Disrupt, Launch Of ‘Lagos’

Police office numbering about 100 from the Lagos State Taskforce unit and some thugs being suspected in some quarters to be members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) disrupted what must have been conceived as the formal launching of *Otogee Lagos* organised by a group called Orange Movement.

The Oranmiyan Hall, Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja the venue of the launching was locked by the policemen who insisted that the programme could take place without police permit.

All frantic efforts by the organisers to prove the legitimacy of the gathering with the provisions of the extant laws without police permission were thwarted by the battle-ready policemen at the venue.



 The policemen barricaded the entrance of the popular hotel with their vans claiming they were acting on“order from above” during the altercation that ensued.

Just as the police resistance continued, a group of young men suspected to be party thugs arrived in three red LAGBUS buses threatening to unleash violence on members of the Orange Movement and journalists who had come to cover the “Otogee Lagos” launch.

A police officer who craved anonymity said they had security intelligence that the gathering would be disrupted by some thugs which was why his men had been promptly detached to be on standby to forestall trouble and maintain law and order

The detachment of policemen were still present at the hotel entrance as at about 2.00 pm when this report was filled.