Members of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) yesterday caused a stir in Lagos as they marched on the city.<\/span> The socio-cultural organisation\u2019s\u00a0 members who turned out in a large numbers \u2013estimated to be almost a thousand \u2013 marched from the old toll gate through Ojota, Maryland, Ikorodu Road and Ojuelegba to the National Stadium where the procession terminated with a rally.<\/span><\/p>\n As they marched on the major highway, they brandished guns and other weapons. They shot sporadically into the air, causing panic and fear among pedestrians and motorists.<\/span><\/p>\n The long procession was trailed by a long convoy of vehicles inside which some of the OPC members sat, according to eye witnesses.<\/span> At Maryland, the OPC members had an encounter with some officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA) and some policemen who refused their attempt to drive against the traffic. Again, there was shooting by the OPC members.<\/span><\/p>\n Some motorists abandoned their vehicles and fled because they mistook the OPC men for armed robbers. The ensuing confusion aggravated the traffic chaos.<\/span><\/p>\n Dr Fasehun told our reporter on the telephone that the march was \u201cto protest against all those things that are distasteful to Nigeria, including insecurity, unemployment and terrorism\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n He denied that his men shot intermittently into the air.<\/span> \u201cThere was no shooting anywhere and they did not have an encounter with anybody,\u201d he chief stressed.<\/span> In an SMS, he said: \u201cThis is to inform the general public that we are not part of the mayhem going on in 7UP-Ojota-Ojuelegba axis.<\/span>
They were protesting against the general insecurity in the country, especially the terrorist activities of the Boko Haram (Western education is sin), OPC leader Dr Frederick Fasehun said.<\/span><\/p>\n
The traffic build-up on the eight-home Ikorodu Road extended to other parts of the city, disrupting movement.<\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cWe started from the toll gate and ended the procession at the National Stadium. We held a rally to protest the inability of the government to address some issues of national importance that we raised in the past.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
The co-ordinator of the organisation Gani Adams, disassociated himself from the procession.<\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cThe so-called protest\/rally does not have my support.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n