Etim Ekpimah
The Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, on Tuesday commended policemen and officers for their professional conducts despite provocation during the #EndSARS protests across Nigeria.
He added that with the resilience the policemen and officers had shown, it shows that no amount of provocation will ever lead them to subscribe to police brutality.
He said: “That resilience you have shown, has proved that no amount of provocation will lead you to give credence to what you have been preaching against Police brutality.
“I congratulate you for that resilience and showing restrain, which then turned the table against the violent protesters.
“Everybody knows that you were professional in handling the protesters which subsequently turned violent.
Fourteen states were affected with these incidents of violence and I am happy to know that not everybody in this country agrees with the violent protesters or agree that police is bad.”
Speaking during a visit to the Lagos State Police Command, Adamu stated that it was the protesters’ unwillingness to leave the streets after their demands had been met that resulted in the protests being hijacked by hoodlums.
“The #EndSARS protests started sometime in 2017, but they resuscitated it and came out with the campaign bearing #EndSARS, which came with five demands, and after about four days protests, the authorities acceded to those demands because they were demands that could lead to the reformation of the SARS itself.
“Our expectation was that after that, they will all leave the streets and return home, but they didn’t.
“Everybody in this country and every security organisation knows that when people come out to protest without observing the protocol, if they stay too much on the streets protesting, there are tendencies that such protests will turn violent because some hoodlums will infiltrate the protesters and at the end of the day, it will become violent.
“So, we engaged stakeholders and civil society organisations, entertainers, musicians in dialogue and made them to understand that after meeting their demands, they should stay off the road but they didn’t, and this led to massive destruction of lives and properties, police stations, personal properties, businesses,
“Lagos State is the worst. In some states, the attacks were not only against police stations but also on Correctional Centres,” he said.
The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Hakeem Odumosu, said that under the present leadership of the NPF, the IGP matches his words with actions in the areas of welfare and enhancing professionalism in police personnel, commitment to protection of lives and property.
He, however, hailed the IGP for his switch response to the yearnings of the protesting youths of Nigeria.
Odumosu pointed out that during the crises, the police families in Lagos, suffered losses both officially and on personal grounds while some of them paid the supreme price with their lives.
He, however, asked the IGP to approve posthumous special promotions to the police personnel who lost their lives during the recent #End SARS protests.
He said: “That IGP considers and approves posthumous special promotion to the police personnel who lost their lives to the recent #EndSARS protest in Lagos State.
“So, this will definitely give succour to their families and boost the morale of the serving officers and men of the Nigeria Police Force. We want you to approve additional anti-rioting equipment to the Lagos State Police Command.”