COVID third wave: Police warn Yoruba forum against rally in Lagos

July 15, 2021 8:16 pm

The Lagos police command has warned the Yoruba Appraisal Forum (YAF) against holding any rally in the state.

According to the police, the forum plans to hold a rally on Friday, at the Gani Fawehinmi Park in Lagos.

Olumuyiwa Adejobi, Lagos police spokesperson, in a statement on Thursday, cited concerns over security and the recent announcement of the state government on the possibility of a third wave of COVID-19 infections.

“As a tradition, the Command has painstakingly carried out threat analysis and gathered intelligence on the proposed rally, which has been considered ill-timed due to a number of security and health-related dangers it portends for Lagos State,” the statement reads.

“It would be recalled that the Lagos State Government has just announced the emergence of the Delta variant of COVID-19 pandemic in the State and increased number of COVID-19 cases recorded, which has forced the University of Lagos to shut down while others live in fear of the new deadly variant.

“This singular health-related reason is enough to halt the rally as it will definitely trigger and spread the pandemic in the state.

“In addition, a gathering of such kind at a strategic location of Ojota in Lagos State will definitely compound the traffic situation in the state due to the ongoing road rehabilitation in the area, as well as the upsurge in the movement of people in and out of Lagos because of the forthcoming Eid-Kabir.

“The spillover effects of the heavy traffic on feeder or adjoining routes to Ojota might open a corridor for miscreants to swiftly attack and rob unsuspecting road users in traffic.

“This must be prevented in order to continually keep the miscreants at bay to maintain adequate security of lives and properties of the good people of Lagos State.

“Based on processed intelligence at the command’s disposal, there is every possibility that the motorcade/rally will be hijacked by miscreants, which will even be risky to the organisers and the general security of the state.”