Nigerian comedian, Debo Adebayo, popularly known as Mr Macaroni who was earlier arrested alongside several others for their involvement in the #OccupyLekkiTollGate protest, have been granted bail.
He and 39 protesters were granted bail in the sum of N100,000 each, with sureties in like sum.
Mr Macaroni and 39 other protesters were earlier arraigned on charges bordering on flouting COVID-19 protocol on public gatherings, and “breaking an order not to protest.”
The protesters were railing against the decision of the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry to reopen the toll gate, which was symbolic of last October’s #EndSARS protests.
“The Protesters arrested have all been granted bail including Mr Macaroni,” Moe Odele, an #EndSARS lawyer said on Twitter.
She added that all the protesters were charged by the police for breaking COVID-19 gathering limits and disobeying an order not to protest.
They all pleaded ”not guilty”, she said. “One of them is injured and will get medical attention.”
The arrests had stirred widespread criticism with many Nigerians accusing the federal government of stifling freedom of expression.
Nigerian Musician, Falz had earlier decried that Nigerians cannot continue living like they currently are and that this development showed the Nigerian government’s unwillingness to uphold the rule of law and sustain the country’s democracy.
“The Nigerian government has shown by this senseless act that it is not concerned with upholding our democracy or the rule of law,” he had said.
