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MikeEmmanuel
Umahis Defection: Wike, Eight More PDP Governors To Join APC
~1.9 mins read
Umahi’s Defection: Wike, Eight More PDP Governors To Join APC
Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, believes more governors
from the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP) will join the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Following the defection of the Ebonyi State Governor, David
Umahi, from the PDP to the APC, Governor Bello stated that
the ruling party would welcome nine more governors from the
opposition.
“I think probably, I can just give you an expo,†he told
Channels Television’s political correspondent Seun Okinbaloye
who asked him a series of questions on the latest
development when he appeared as a guest on Politics Today
on Thursday.
The governor added, “The expo I am going to give to you is that
Governor Wike might be the last to join this party – the All
Progressives Congress, others are lining up. They will soon be
here.â€
He commended the decision of the Ebonyi State governor to
leave his former party for the APC, saying the defection was a
testimony of the progress in the ruling party.
Eight Are Already Knocking
According to Governor Bello, APC is a party that believes in
fairness, equity, and justice, with a strong belief in the unity
and oneness of the country.
He also believes the party has carried out people-oriented
programmes and policies, saying that would encourage more
opposition governors to join.
“I said it long ago, not today when the party (PDP) was going
through some challenges; I did say that there are 10
governors from the opposition parties that will join APC.
“We have seen one; one that is even as equal as 10, he has
joined us, nine to go. Just mark my words; I don’t lie, I will
never lie, and I will never deceive anybody,†the Kogi governor
stressed.
He added, “Umahi is here with us, more are coming. I am very
sure that Governor Wike will be the 10th person (governor) to
join the APC, the remaining eight are already knocking, and
by the grace of God, we are working all the necessary
platform for them to come in here in peace, so they are on
their way.â€
https://www.channelstv.com/2020/11/19/umahis-defection-
wike-eight-more-pdp-governors-to-join-apc-says-bello/
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MikeEmmanuel
We Still Cant Wear Our Uniform In Public Police Officers
~10.9 mins read
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, “after the protest many of us can’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. “We 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 “our
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 don’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 don’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: “You 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, “What
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 don’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,
“We 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, “we
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.
“Policemen 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.
“The 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.
“Most 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 “many 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 citizenry†some of the
police personnel added.
VANGUARD
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