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We Still Cant Wear Our Uniform In Public Police Officers

Barely A Month After The #EndSARS Protest Against Police
brutality Which Turned Bloody With Loss Of Lives And Massivedestruction Of
...

MikeEmmanuel 752

Barely a month after the #EndSARS protest against police

brutality which turned bloody with loss of lives and massive

destruction of property, the police, which was the main target

of the mayhem is yet to recover. Policemen virtually

disappeared from the public space. The Inspector General of

Police had to issue a directive asking his men to return to the

streets but investigations across the country revealed that

things have not returned to normal. Policemen who are

supposed to protect the residents are themselves afraid to

walk freely on the streets in their uniform. Their morale is low

and they are yet to regain their confidence. In some places,

criminals have taken advantage of the absence of the police

which has resulted in upsurge of crimes.

Ondo

Findings by Saturday Vanguard showed that police personnel

are not fully back on the streets in Ondo state for fear of

possible attack. Some of the policemen who spoke on

condition of anonymity said that they still lived in fear and

could not walk freely on the streets.

According to them, â€œafter the protest many of us canâ€™t put on

our uniform and walk freely on the streets because of the fear

that we may be attacked. Two of our men were killed during

the protest. One was roasted alive just because the

protesters saw his police uniform inside his car. What we do

now is that when we leave the police station we would

remove our police uniform and put on mufti to disguiseâ€.

Speaking with vanguard, the police spokesperson in the state

Tee Leo Ikoro said policemen in the state returned to their

duty posts after the protests. â€œWe returned to our duty posts

immediately after the #EndSARS carnage where we lost our

men to the hoodlums. This is because we know our duty is

sacrosanct and if we are off duty many people and things will

be affected. We looked at the #EndSARS saga as a bye gone

but as human as we are, we also felt bad about what

happened and we are aggrieved over the killing of some of our

officers. People expected us not to return to our duty post but

we remain at out duty posts. The #EndSARS protest only

energised us to do more.â€

Oyo

In Oyo State, only a handful of policemen were at work as

most of the police stations were locked up. Some of the

policemen resumed duty this week even as residents,

government, Yoruba leaders have made passionate pleas to

the policemen to resume duties.

At most junctions where they used to control traffic, men of

the Oyo State Transport management were there to fill the

space. At the UI-Sango-Bodija junction, Mokola, Eleyele,

Ologuneru, some soldiers and members of the state road

transportation management were controlling the traffic.

Traffic wardens were at the Bodija-Cementry junction,

Iyaganku, Bodija market, Oke Ado market.

But, in the area of maintaining security, it appeared the

policemen were not responding to distress calls.

Hoodlums have capitalized on the absence of policemen as

they robbed residents in different parts of the city. At Idi-

Ishin-NIHORT area, a man was shot dead by robbers on a

motorcycle who attempted to snatch the bike.

Edo

It has been a horrible situation in Benin City, Edo state capital

and some other parts of the state since #EndSARS protest

turned violent with the destruction of police facilities and

carting away of arms and ammunition. Rival cult groups

renewed their clashes that have claimed not less than 37

lives, while criminals and hoodlums have taken over the

streets of Benin City. Robberies and other violent crimes have

become a daily occurrence in all parts of Benin City, as people

now live in fear while night life is completely dead as

everybody runs home at dusk. Even residents in Government

Reservation Areas which are so called protected areas are not

spared of these attacks as a guest house less than 500

metres from the gate of government house was recently

ransacked and all the 13 occupants were robbed that night.

The attack on police stations has dampened the morale of

policemen as they disappeared from the streets while those

who still ventured around, moved in mufti. Some of them in

mufti were also victims of robberies as one of them who was

going home after work, had his bag where he kept his service

pistol snatched by suspected robbers in a white Toyota Sienna

bus.

A policeman in Benin confided in Saturday Vanguard that â€œour

morale is very low after that incident. Imagine DPOs now

reporting from the state command everyday and no vehicles

for them and their personnel to work, that is disheartening.

Look at the Area Commander and two of his men who went on

patrol last week and were shot by those hoodlums in Upper

Sokponba. Till now many of us still donâ€™t wear our uniforms on

the streets for fear of being attacked. Though the Inspector

General of Police has come to address us, the governor

himself has visited and tried to motivate us but it is gradual,

we will definitely come back to the streets but you donâ€™t

expect it to be immediateâ€

The absence of the police on the streets have also resulted in

cases of self help by residents who have turned themselves

into vigilance groups. There was a reported case of two

suspected thieves who were arrested in Upper Sokponba road,

beaten to pulp and set ablaze while in some other areas like

Amagba, Ekheuan Road, residents formed vigilance groups

and take turns to watch all entry and exit points into their

areas.

The commissioner of police in the state, Johnson Kokumo said

the return of the police to their normal duties would be a

gradual process after suffering the damages to their facilities

which he said killed their morale. He said some of the escapee

prisoners were sending threat messages to policemen who

arrested and investigated them before their eventual

prosecution and conviction. Kokumo said his men were

working within existing limitations to restore normalcy to the

state.

He said: â€œYou can imagine what it means that three police

stations along Sokponba road were destroyed and burnt;

patrol vehicles destroyed in several other parts of the state

capital, all the officers in these stations now operate from

the headquarters. How do you expect things to be normal in a

place where 2000 inmates escaped? Is there any magic we

can do without vehicles, without arms and ammunition? We

were doing our best to arrest the criminals in Edo before the

jail break and we are equally trying our best to see that the

escapees are re-arrested and brought to book.

Plateau

Despite the fact that there was no attack on the Police in

Plateau State, the presence of the personnel of the Force is

not very visible on the highways and streets in the Jos and

Bukuru metropolis.

Saturday Vanguard observed that spots where the personnel

were always seen mounting road blocks have been free since

the state government lifted the curfew which was imposed in

the Jos North and Jos South local government areas but

traffic police were on their duty posts at major junctions in

the city directing traffic.

Personnel who spoke on condition of anonymity claimed they

followed instructions of their superiors. A police Corporal

serving in the C Division of the Force in Jos said, â€œWhat

happened when the hoodlums hijacked the #EndSARS protest

was a terrible thing, although we did not experience any

attack here in Jos but we worked based on instruction. We are

not off the roads but sometime when there were no

operational vehicles, we allowed the team on critical

assignment to use the available vehicle to carry out their

duties. You donâ€™t expect us to trek from the station to the

road, the demand for work tools for the Police is a very valid

one because we really lack things that can enhance our job.â€

Another personnel, a Sergeant at the Anglo Jos station added,

â€œWe did not experience any attack here but we have to stay

alive first before we combat crimeâ€.

Ekiti

Barely a month after the attack on policemen and their offices

by some hoodlums who hijacked the #EndSARS protest in

Ekiti State policemen have gradually been returning to their

duty posts following the intervention of the State Governor,

Dr Kayode Fayemi who visited the state headquarters of the

Ekiti State Police Command to pacify the leadership and men

of the command with a promise to re-build damaged police

stations and compensate victims of the attack. During the

violent protest, several police officers were assaulted and

injured while their personal property including vehicles were

destroyed. Three police stations were set ablaze in Ikere Ekiti

while several weapons were carted away.

Immediately after the unrest, many officers irrespective of

their ranks went into hiding for safety of their lives while

some had no office to resume to due to the destruction. No

single patrol vehicle was sighted on the road except escort

teams of VIPs a situation that gave rise to an increase in

criminal activities and lawlessness in the state.

The issue became so alarming that the Ogoga of Ikere Ekiti

summoned a town hall meeting where he cried out on the

absence of policemen on the streets of the town. However,

the situation has changed as many of the police officers have

returned to their usual place of primary assignments

Speaking with vanguard correspondent, the Ekiti State Police

Public Relations Officer, ASP Sunday Abutu explained that

the police officers are more combatant than ever before to do

their job professionally. According to Abutu, many officers

affected by the violent protest have moved on with their lives

saying most of them have been consoled by the message of

the IGP after the attack.

In a chat, a police officer who spoke on the condition of

anonymity claimed that the protest and attack against the

police did not go down well with most of them. He said, â€œwe

were not happy that despite all we have done to protect

people day and night, all they could do was to attack, kill and

destroy our property. We are not the major cause of the

problem, the police too are suffering, we have a lot of

underneath problems we are facing but who do we run to? We

have been working under an abnormal situation, I wonder how

you expect the best from a man that has been subjected to

poor accommodation, irregular allowances, and lack of working

tools. The public can not do without police, we just need to

manage ourselves and continue to endure until the right

things are done by the concerned authorities.

Adamawa

A high ranking retired Police Officer, who spoke on condition

of anonymity in Yola, Adamawa state argued that it would

take the Nigerian Police some months or years to recover

from the trauma of the last #EndSARS protest. Speaking

against the backdrop of the absence of policemen on the

streets of Adamawa state after the protest, he said, though

no police station was destroyed or police personnel killed in

Adamawa during the protest, but what happened in other

states speak volume.

â€œPolicemen with their rifles were being chased and killed right

in their stations and on the streets by armed protesters. They

were killed and maimed and they could not defend

themselves. And few months after the orgy of killings, you

expect them to return to the streets and move freely like

before? The Inspector General of Police has directed them to

return to the streets, but he is not everywhere to protect the

policemen. Policemen are human beings like us with families

to take care of and if they recall what happened to their

colleagues elsewhere, it will take time for them to regain their

confidence.

â€œThe usual police presence on the streets in Adamawa was

drastically reduced. Policemen were only seen in groups being

moved in their vehicles to their places of work or duty posts.

Other policemen who moved from place to place, may either

be going to work or returning from duty while hiding their

uniforms to shield their identity. The absence of policemen on

the streets and highways has actually resulted in the upsurge

of crimes in the state.

â€œMost of the highways in the state today are no go areas,

especially at nights. The roads are no longer safe, even the

cities are equally affected by the absence of the police on the

streets as armed robbers and other criminals are on the

prowlâ€.

Some of the policemen spoken to expressed regret that the

police was entirely reduced to nothing during the EndSARS

Saga. They argued that though no policeman or station was

attacked in the state as in other states, but what affects one

affects the other. They said â€œmany of our colleagues were

killed in the guise of protest while others were maimed. It will

surely take the police a long time to come to terms with the

unfortunate protest and the killings associated with it, but

with time we will adjust to the situation since we have signed

to protect lives and property of the citizenryâ€ some of the

police personnel added.

VANGUARD

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