The Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun, has denied the police excessive use of force on the protesters and shooting of live ammunition at the protesters during the ongoing nationwide hunger and hardship protest.
The IGP’s denial came on Tuesday while fielding questions at the joint security press briefing in Abuja, despite video and photos evidences making the rounds on social media of policemen shooting live ammunition at the peaceful #EndBadGovernance protesters.
SaharaReporters had reported that a viral video surfaced showing a Divisional Police Officer in Kano State threatening to kill #EndBadGovernance protesters.
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The officer, attached to the Rijiyar Lemo Police Division, was seen addressing a large crowd of demonstrators in Kano, warning that he would have no qualms about using lethal force if any of his personnel were harmed during the protests.
SaharaReporters had also reported that no fewer than 13 protesters have been killed during the #EndBadGovernance protests, according to Amnesty International.
Amnesty International Nigeria in a post on its X (formerly Twitter) handle on Friday, condemned “the killing of peaceful protesters by security personnel across the country, noting that 13 people had been killed in the 10-day protests that kicked off on Thursday.
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It said six people were killed in Suleja in Niger State, four in Maiduguri in Borno State and three Kaduna State.
SaharaReporters had reported that on Thursday, the first day of the #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria protests, at least 12 journalists and media professionals fell victim to police brutality or attacks by hoodlums reportedly sponsored by the government.
The police boss on Tuesday during the joint security press briefing including the Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Air Force, the Nigerian Navy, the Nigerian Customs Service, the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, the Department of State Services and the Nigeria Police Force, said that there was no record of any police officer shooting live ammunition or brutalising either protesters or journalists.
Egbetokun claimed that contrary to the allegations of police shooting at protesters, police officers were rather attacked and injured by protesters. He also denied police deployment of police officers with rifles, saying that only smoke sections of the police were deployed.
The IGP said, “The police and the military, indeed, no other security agency involved in the management of this protest has deployed excessive use of force. Instead, what we had was an attack on security agents during the protest.
“From our record, there was no shooting incident by the police. The police or the military did not use any live ammunition in the management of this protest. Instead, we have had cases where our officers were injured critically and they are still in critical condition in the hospital as we speak.
“So, I will dismiss that (allegations) as fake news. It is not true. It is a very wrong allegation. We didn’t use excessive force at all. We didn’t even deploy the whole of our strength in this protest, even when it turned violent.
“We have water cannons we didn’t deploy. We have rubber bullets we didn’t use. All that we have used in the management of this protest is teargas smoke and nothing more.”
On the issue of the teenage boy allegedly shot dead at the Kubwa area of Abuja by police officers, the IGP said, “I saw the video and I ordered an investigation into that immediately.
“The eyewitness said that they saw a group of people, a team dressed in black and black police uniform, I said that that will not be from us; because throughout the protest, our dress order is the cameo.
“And not just the cameo, it is the cameo with the red ban worn on the left arm. So, if you see any other person that is dressed in the regular black and black police uniform, that cannot be police.
“That is not from the Nigeria Police. I don’t know where they came from. They may be armed robbers. They may be anything, but they are not police. That is what the findings of the investigation that I ordered revealed.”
