THE #EndSARS protest in Osogbo, Osun State, on Thursday, turned violent as some suspected cultists attacked protesters and dispersed them.
The hoodlums, suspected to be cultists, had stormed Oke-Fia junction in Osogbo where the protesters had gathered to continue their agigation before a clash ensued.
The fierce-looking hoodlums who wielded cutlasses, axe, charms and some other dangerous weapons arrived at the venue and dispersed the protesters.
Some protesters, around 7:30am had gathered at Oke-fia, blocking the road leading to the Osun State government house before some youths approached them to join others at Olaiya junction.
Meanwhile, some civil ociety groups in the state have faulted the unusual dimensions that the #EndSARS protest took on Wednesday and Thursday.
The groups said the protests appeared to have been hijacked by miscreants in the state as “trend of such struggles indicates dicey public engagement and outright public disturbance.”
The groups said while there was democratic justification for protest against police brutality and obvious extortion and intimidation, the structure of expressing grievances should be objective and in the utmost interest of the public.
The Coordinator of Advocacy for Peace in Africa Initiative, Comrade Adebola Ajayi, said the manner in which some youths were assaulting members of the public and disrupting commercial activities suggested a dangerous trend of anarchical tendencies and arson.
Another group, Development Advocacy Group(DAG), said some youths now paraded streets with weapons in the guise of EndSARS protest.
The state government has said it will ensure that the demonstrations remain peaceful in the state.
In a statement issued by Ismail Omipidan, the Chief Press Secretary to the state Governor, the government said it would ensure that the ENDSARS protest is peaceful.
“As a responsive government, we have put the security operatives on notice to ensure that the peaceful protests are not hijacked by miscreants and hoodlums,” the statement said.
