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An artist named Justin Chinedu Ezirim on Sunday shared a video on Facebook which shows another artist who was allegedly shot in the leg by policemen during the forced eviction and demolition of the artists village at the National Arts Theatre in Iganmu, Lagos state on Saturday.
The video shows an artist being shoved around by policemen amidst protests by his colleagues. The artist is then shown a few seconds later with a bleeding hole in his leg, protesting to a presumed official of the National Theatre who walks past that he is an artist and not a criminal.
The artists village, said to be the most active part of the national edifice,was demolished early Sunday ostensibly on the orders of the director-general of the National Art Theatre, Mr Kabiru Yusuf who eyewitnesses claim led the team of fully armed policemen that supervised the exercise.
Yusuf has also been accused of giving an order to the policemen to shoot anyone protesting at the site. Some artists are said to be receiving treatment at an undisclosed hospital.
"This is another call to action for the general public, the symbolism of constant menace to the artists in our society, should make us all worry at the level of inconsideration that is yet to hit many of us within the larger society. In the name of advancement, cruelty is becoming the proposed weapon here. I am highly worried because obviously this is an order coming from the minister Lai Muhammed who visited the edifice few weeks ago," Ezirim said in a Facebook post on Sunday.
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