Nigerian police officers have been deployed en masse to Ojota, Lagos State, ahead of the much anticipated Yoruba Nation Now rally slated to hold in Lagos today.
It was gathered that police vans were stationed at the venue to forestall the breakdown of law and order and to arrest protesters. Protesters were not seen at the venue in the early hours of Saturday.
The Oduduwa Nation agitators, led by Yoruba freedom fighter, Sunday Adeyemo (Igboho), had called for the rally to drum attention to their demands.
However, following attacks on Igboho’s Ibadan residence, he backed out of the plan.
Meanwhile, the Lagos Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, had, during a joint press briefing with the Lagos Commissioner for Information, Gbenga Omotoso, on Thursday, banned the planned rally because an intelligence report revealed plans to hijack the protest.
Reiterating this position on Friday, the police boss, who addressed a security gathering comprising operatives of the police, Department of State Services (DSS) and Federal Road Safety Commission at the Command headquarters, said they were prepared for the agitators.
