Groups call for investigation into tear-gassing of Lagos pensioners

Civil society groups have criticized the Lagos State Government and the state police over the alleged tear-gassing of elderly pensioners who protested at the Lagos State House of Assembly on Monday.

The groups, led by the Centre for Human and Socio-Economic Rights and other civil organizations, want a thorough investigation into the event and accountability for anyone found guilty of using force against the retirees.

The pensioners had gathered at the Assembly gate to demand payment of their unpaid pensions, gratuities, and other benefits.

At a press conference in Ijaye on Wednesday, the President of CHSR, Alex Omotehinse, called the incident part of a rising trend of security agencies disrupting peaceful protests in the state.

Omotehinse said, "We have observed that under this constitutional government, it has already become a norm that every protest will be attacked, assaulted and dismembered."

He recalled that CHSR and other civil society groups were also tear-gassed during a protest by victims of demolition in Lagos earlier this year.

He noted that the latest incident was especially troubling because the protesters were elderly pensioners who had dedicated many years to serving the state.

"These aged men and women, they are not activists. They are not motorists. They are aged people that have served Lagos State for about 85 percent of their lifetime, 32, 33, 35 years in service," he said.

Omotehinse questioned the reasoning behind the alleged police action, asking, "What was their offence that must have warranted these aged men and women to be tear-gassed?"

He also challenged Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to explain if his administration approved the police action.

"Governor Sanwo-Olu needs to answer this question. On what basis did Sanwo-Olu have to instruct the police to tear-gas protesters? That is the pensioners," he said.

The CHSR president criticized the pension benefits available to former governors in Lagos, comparing them to the struggles faced by pensioners in getting their entitlements.

"Every ex-governor in Lagos is entitled to three brand-new cars every three years. So these aged people that do not demand cars, they are not entitled to cars," he said.

Omotehinse also took aim at the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Tijani, over his claim that videos and photos showing the pensioners being tear-gassed were AI-generated.

"We listened to a press conference where the CP Lagos tried to distort the facts by giving lies, saying the video and the footage you are seeing are AI-generated. They are nothing like the tear-gassing of the protest," he said.

He urged the police commissioner to investigate the footage and take action against those responsible if it turns out the videos were fake.

"If truly it is AI-generated, go after those who made the fake news or those who are promoting that AI-generated video," he added.

Funmilayo Ajayi, the Coordinator of the Community Women Initiative, also raised concerns about the different treatment of political rallies and protests by security agencies.

"Why must it be that when politicians occupy the streets of Lagos, they will say there is something like they will hijack it? That is the language of the police," she said.

Ajayi continued, "But when masses occupy the streets of Lagos, it will be hijacked and people will be tear-gassed. Why?"

She described the pensioners as "armless mothers and fathers" whose only way to express their grievances was through placards and songs.

"They were not beggars. They were not begging the government for anything. They were asking for their rights and they are armless. The only weapon they have is their placards," Ajayi said.

She demanded answers from the state government and the police on who ordered the alleged use of tear gas.

"Who ordered the tear gas? Is it the Lagos State Government that ordered the aged mothers and fathers to be tear-gassed? Or is it that the police took the laws into their hands deliberately to tear-gas the mothers? We need an answer to the questions," she said.

Ajayi urged the state government to quickly pay the pensioners their outstanding entitlements.

Ibrahim Oluwatobiloba of Voice of the Masses and Support for Credible Leadership called the police's alleged actions "sacrilegious" and "shameful."

"The action of the policemen on that day is sacrilegious. Nobody would expect that such an elderly citizen would be tear-gassed. In fact, it was shameful. It was like a scene from a movie," he said.

Oluwatobiloba pointed out that conflicting statements from the police and the Lagos State Government made it necessary to find out who ordered the alleged actions.

"Later, the Chief of Staff to Babajide Sanwo-Olu came out and said the government did not order the tear-gassing of the elderly pensioners. Which contradicts the Commissioner of Police’s statement that it was AI-generated.

"That means there was tear-gassing on that day. So the question we should be asking is who ordered them to be tear-gassed," he said.

Oluwatobiloba called for the prosecution of any police officers involved in the alleged actions and urged the Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, to caution the Lagos State Commissioner of Police.

He alleged that the incident is part of a pattern under the current police leadership in Lagos, saying, "Under his watch, we have recorded three major incidents of tear-gassing protesters."

The National Publicity Secretary of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, Adewunmi Adesina, stated that pensioners have a right to demand their unpaid benefits.

"It is the right of pensioners to get their money. But the government has decided to deny them their right. The government is supposed to respond to their cry," Adesina said.

He called the alleged use of tear gas against the protesters "wicked" and "inhumane," adding that the police should be protecting peaceful protesters instead of attacking them.

"It is the right of every human to protest, and the police are supposed to guide them, but having gone this far, the police are gassing them. It is an abuse of their fundamental right," he said.