10 youths arrested over protest at Mouka office

Ten suspects have been arrested following a violent protest at the corporate office of Mouka Foam Limited in Lagos.

The suspects were allegedly contracted by aggrieved workers of the company on Thursday and they attempted to set the company on fire before the arrival of a detachment of policemen.

Though the identities of those arrested could not be ascertained as at press time, sources said they were hoodlums contracted by some staff of the company who were purportedly transferred out of Lagos State by the company’s management.

Mouka’s Head of Human Resources, Ifeoma Okoruen, who confirmed the attack, said those arrested were not staff of the company but hoodlums.

She said, “The event of Thursday, August 12, 2021, whereby a few staff who were agitating unjustly for some personal demands staged a protest which initially started as peaceful but degenerated into harassment and attack on other staffers who had refused to be recruited into the protest.

“Unfortunately, the following day, the agitating few had recruited some non-staff hoodlums to join the agitation and they became violent. When the law enforcement agents who had all along been there to maintain peace and order could no longer bear the escalating attack on persons and an attempt to attack them, they called for reinforcement and effected the arrest of the few troublemakers.”

The Lagos police spokesman, Adekunle Ajisebutu, confirmed the arrest and said investigation was ongoing.