Police
#EndSARS: IGP orders clampdown on hoodlums
The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, has ordered the immediate mobilisation of all police operational resources to bring an end to the wanton violence, killings, looting and destruction of public and private property across the country. The IGP said this according to a statement by the Force Public relations Officer, Frank Mba. According to Mr Mba, the directive by the IGP is to reclaim the public space from hoodlums who have operated almost freely in many states. Vandals have attacked public and private property, especially those belonging to politicians, since Tuesday when soldiers shot at unarmed protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos. In many states, warehouses holding food aid meant for residents during the COVID-19 lockdown have been broken into and looted. The IGP, a...
Policeman, Boko Haram insurgents killed in Yobe shoot-out
A policeman and six members of the Boko Haram terrorist group have been killed in a gunfight in Yobe State. The spokesman for the State Police Command, Dungus Abdulkarim, confirmed the incident and those killed to newsmen on Saturday, hours after it occurred. He, however, said the police were gathering more information (at the time of this report) to give a definite number of casualties. This followed an evening attack by the insurgents on Babban Gida community – the headquarters of Tarmuwa Local Government Area of Yobe State. Local sources told newsmen that the assailants drove into the community in four Toyota Hilux vehicles around 4pm and started shooting sporadically. Although the military has yet to speak about the incident, newsmen sighted the mobilisation of heavy military hardware ...
Official: No fire outbreak at CAN national secretariat
File Photo The Christian Association of Nigeria has described as untrue, reports that its National Secretariat and National Ecumenical Centre had been set on fire by hoodlums who have hijacked the #EndSARS protests against police brutality. The General Secretary of CAN, Joseph Daramola, stated this in a chat with newsmen on Saturday night. He said, “Nothing happened. It’s not true, I’m just coming out of the office. The time now is 08:27pm. I’m just in my car driving back to my house. They said it came from AIT.” The Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council, Cornelius Omonokhua, also clarified that the report was “a false alarm.” “It’s not true, it’s a false alarm. As I speak, the General Secretary of CAN is in the office; there’s nothing like that. It’s a false alarm, th...
#EndSARS: Bishop Olumakaiye condemns military onslaught against youth
Bishop Humphrey Bamisebi Olumakaiye, the Bishop and Diocesan Missioner and Lagos has condemned in very strong terms, the heartless shooting of defenceless, peaceful and unarmed protesters at Lekki, Lagos State on Tuesday 20th October 2020. The Bishop described the cruel shooting of unarmed protesters by troops of the Nigerian Army as “totally deplorable and an outrageous act of terror and wickedness against civilians who were peaceably organized and had, for many days, been peacefully protesting against poor governance, leadership, abuse of power and most especially, longstanding Nigerian Police brutality. He continued: “It is highly depressing that the same government which promised to reform the police and bring an end to police brutality ended up using the military against the people”. ...
#EndSARS: Over 17 police stations burnt in Lagos – official
The police in Lagos, on Friday, warned that the burning of several police stations across the state will lead to retrogression and a waste of money that could have been deployed to other projects. The police spokesperson in the state, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, gave the warning in an interview with newsmen in Lagos. “The implication of this is that money that has been set aside to do other projects and develop certain areas will have to be channeled into repairing these damaged stations.” He said that over 17 police formations across the state have been totally or partially razed by fire, set on them by thugs who infiltrated the #EndSARS protesters. “Also, it will make our work harder now because we will have to enhance our patrols in order to cover more grassroots areas that are normally covered ...
#EndSARS: Troops take over Oyigbo as fresh mob attacks hit Rivers
File Photo Troops of the Nigerian Army and the policemen have taken over the Oyigbo Local Government Area in Rivers State following fresh mob attacks in the area. The State Police Command had said members of the Indigenous People of Biafra were responsible for killing two of its operatives and burning of two police stations in the area on Wednesday. Gunshots rent the area from Thursday night till Friday morning as soldiers repel the hoodlums but there were still flashes of violence in Oyigbo. Governor Nyesom Wike had placed a 24-hour curfew on the local government but residents said they could not sleep because of the shootings. Chairman of Oyigbo LGA, Gerald Aforji, while reacting to the incident on Friday morning, said soldiers had intervened to restore calm in the area. Get more stories...
#EndSARS: Institute invites protesters for dialogue
The Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR) has invited the youths currently protesting against police brutality with the hashtag, #ENDSARS for a dialogue with officials of the institute. The Director-General of the institute, Dr Bakut Bakut, who planned the dialogue spoke in a statement signed by IPCR Head of Media, Mr Musa Mato on Thursday in Abuja. Bakut said that the invitation was extended to the protesters to engage them in discussions with a view to ending the social unrest by youths in the country. ‘’The institute is willing and ready to facilitate a dialogue between all stakeholders to restore peace in the country and move the society forward. ”No conflict has actually come to an end without dialogue. Therefore, let us stop the violent protests and dialogue for the sake...
#EndSARS: President Buhari urged to probe Lekki shootings
A coalition of women groups, Mothers United and Mobilised (MUM), has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to constitute a transparent panel of inquiry into alleged shooting of unarmed EndSARS protesters in Lekki on Tuesday. The coalition made the call in a statement issued on Thursday by its Convener and Co-convener, Dr Boluwaji Onabolu and Mrs Sonye Allanah, respectively. MUM is a group of Nigerian mothers from all walks of life, ethnic and religious groups, based in Nigeria and in Diaspora. The Mothers United and Mobilised said that the probe should unravel “who ordered the shootings, who carried it out and how are they being held accountable.” “We call on President Muhammadu Buhari as Father of the Nation to cease and desist from the use of live bullets and teargas against our children,...
#EndSARS: Police confirm attack on station in Ebonyi
The Police Command in Ebonyi has confirmed Thursday’s attack on Uburu Police Station in Ohaozara Local Government Area of the state by suspected hoodlums. The Commissioner of Police in Ebonyi, Mr Philip Maku, said suspected hoodlums attacked some police officers on duty, after which they razed the station down. According to him, some of the police officers sustained several degrees of injuries while trying to manage the situation. Newsmen report that the burnt police station is located at the back of the house of the Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonaya Onu, in Uburu Community. The CP, however, condemned the attack and urged officers and men of the command to remain calm and continue to manage the situation professionally. Newsmen recall that some suspected hoodlums, under the guis...
Tension as traders desert Gudu market
The police have mobilised to the Gudu Market following reports of the killing of an unnamed man in the market on Thursday. It was gathered that traders have deserted the market located in the Gudu District of Abuja. A trader, Madu told newsmen that “everyone left the market in fear after the corpse of a man was found in the vicinity.” “Because of the attack by thugs on Tuesday, everyone was afraid that the violence may spread to the market. So, we all locked our shops and ran. I don’t know the circumstances surrounding the man’s death but the market has been shut down”, Madu said on the phone. Spokesperson of the FCT Police Command, ASP Mariam Yusuf, confirmed the incident. Yusuf said operatives had been deployed to provide security at the facility. Get more stories like this on Twitter Yo...
#EndSARS: HURIWA charges President Buhari to set up assets recovery panel
Foremost rights advocacy group, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, has condemned what it called the silence of President Muhammadu Buhari over protests against operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, a unit of the Nigeria Police Force, in the past two weeks. The group in a statement issued by its national coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, on Thursday, claimed that “certain ethno-religious extremists have been paid by some government officials to stoke the embers of ethno–religious division to graphically paint the #EndSARS movements with ethnic and religious colourations.” The statement noted that youths of the country are angry “because the elders who have had access to public offices and those wielding political powers have continuously feasted on the comm...
Abia governor imposes 24-hour curfew on Umuahia, Aba
File Photo The Abia State Government has imposed a 24-hour curfew on the two major cities of Umuahia and Aba, following the alleged killing of a police officer (name withheld) in Aba on Monday night. The Commissioner for Information, John Okiyi-Kalu, announced this in a statement made available to newsmen in Umuahia on Tuesday. Okiyi-Kalu stated that the curfew would take effect from 6pm on Tuesday, October 20. He stated that the deceased was allegedly murdered after a police patrol van was attacked by at least 30 hoodlums, who reportedly hijacked the EndSARS protest in Aba. He stated that the measure became necessary to forestall further breach of the peace and ensure the security of lives and property of law-abiding citizens in the state. He stated: “Last night, a contingent of police of...
