Police deny shielding political thugs

•ADC condemns attacks on its faithful

The Police in Lagos State have denied leading thugs to disrupt the formal declaration of the gubernatorial candidate of the Labour Party in the last general election in the state, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour for the African Democratic Party (ADC) over the weekend in Alimosho area of Lagos State.

The police, in a statement on Sunday, signed by its acting spokesperson, Babaseyi Oluseyi maintained that as at Sunday not received any complaint or report of any attack on anybody.

Rhodes Vivour had accused the police of supporting thugs to attack the venue of ADC event

The Lagos police spokesperson said: “The Lagos State Police Command has distanced the Police personnel of the command from insinuations linking it to party politics and political issues in Lagos State.

“The allegations by a section of a political party of the Police Personnel supporting one political party against the other is completely false, misleading and a disservice to the Lagos State Police Command.

“The  Command deployed joint Police teams of conventional Police, the tactical squads and anti riot Police units to patrol the entire area of Alimosho LGA and other parts of Lagos State for Crime Prevention and Control, and to nip in the bud any likely disturbance of Public peace and safety throughout the State.

The deployment which started from the 4th September, 2025 throughout Saturday and beyond is aimed to protect the citizenry, lives and property of the people of the affected area and remove the fear of crime from the minds of the people, and these are clearly parts of the constitutional mandates of the NPF in the maintenance of law and order, protection of lives and property, and ensuring public peace across the Lagos State.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the Command wishes to categorically state that up till now there was no any complaint or report by any Political party or any individuals at any Police Station anywhere in Alimosho LGA or any other Police formation throughout Lagos State regarding any attack or counter attack on any person or group of persons or on property throughout Alimosho LGA or in any other location in Lagos State.

“The Police teams deployed out were very professional and polite, they provided adequate security and protection to all and were not partisan.

 “At no time were police officers from the Lagos State Police Command provided cover to any of the political party member(s) to attack members of the opposite political party as claimed in the report.” 

Meanwhile, the ADC has condemned Saturday’s attack on its members during a gathering in Alimosho LGA, Lagos State.

The party expressed outrage that political thugs desecrated a church by spilling blood in its vicinity where a peaceful meeting was meant to hold, describing the incident as evidence of the ruling party’s desperation without boundaries.

The ADC warned that the Saturday invasion of the church venue in Lagos, while outrageous on its own, is consistent with the growing authoritarian temper that the ruling party has demonstrated against the opposition in recent weeks, which, if not challenged on time, might get worse in the months ahead as the ruling party gets even more jittery with the widespread popularity of the ADC.

The party also calls on the Nigeria Police to remember that its primary loyalty is to the constitution and the Nigerian people, not the ruling party. It must, therefore, rise above partisan interests and not allow itself to be turned into the armed wing of the APC.

The statement read in part: “The African Democratic Congress (ADC) is outraged by the attack that occurred at an ADC gathering in Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State, where ADC leaders and members had gathered for a peaceful meeting.

“The ADC particularly condemns the invasion of the church premises where the meeting was meant to hold, by government-backed political thugs who spilled blood, seized properties, and destroyed vehicles. This attack on a church premises is a profound act of desecration by a jittery ruling party who would stop at nothing to silence opposition voices in the country.

“With this attack on a church, no one can predict how far this APC under President Tinubu is willing to go in its desperate quest to hold on to power at all costs. It started in Edo with a warning to ADC leaders not to visit the state, followed by Kogi, and then the shutting down of a private radio station in Niger, before it escalated to sponsored attacks on peaceful meetings in Kaduna, followed by attacks on convoys of ADC leaders in Kebbi.”

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