Mudiaga Affe
Suspected thugs hauled rocks at the protesters who besieged the Edo State House of Assembly and shot sporadically into the air
The #EndSARS protest on Friday turned violent in Benin City, the Edo State capital, when suspected thugs threw rocks at protesters who besieged the Edo State House of Assembly and shot sporadically, leaving two persons reportedly dead and many injured.
The protesters, in a reprisal attack, took the fight back to where the thugs were converging at the museum ground in King’s Square (Ring Road) where they engaged in a brawl.
A victim who was caught in the web during the free-for-all, Godswill Abere, suffered serious head injuries.
Mr Abere said he was not part of the #EndSARS protest, but was beaten up over claims that he was taking pictures of the brawl.
“I was just on my way from the bank. When I got to the Airport Road, some boys just attacked me because I was holding my phone. They claimed that I wanted to take pictures and videos of them. So, they snatched my phone and started hitting me from different angles.
“I am yet to recover the phone. They have my phone. The make is Tecno Camon 12. I was not part of the protest,” Mr Abere lamented.
The activities of the protesters caused the Ring Road axis to be deserted for the fear of possible escalation of violence, while motorists were left with no option than to seek alternative routes to their destinations.
However, one of the #EndSARS protesters, Dennis Osaretin, said they were in solidarity with the protests that are currently going on across other states.
He called for a total overhauling of the nation’s security architecture.
