NLC nationwide protest: State police commands warn protesters

State Police Commands across the country have warned those who will participate in the nationwide protest scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) against breaching the peace, impeding the rights of others or obstructing the free flow of traffic.

The Lagos State Police Command, in a statement on Sunday, warned protesters against obstructing the free flow of traffic and breaching the rights of others. 

The command, in a statement by its spokesman, Benjamin Hundeyin, vowed to deal with anyone found to be in the breach.

Similarly, the Police Commissioner in Ekiti State, Adeniran Akinwale, said the force would not allow a breakdown of the rule of law in the state during the protest.

Akinwale, who harped on the need for peace in Ekiti State and Nigeria, said: “I have a role to play, my own is to ensure that there is peace and tranquillity in Ekiti State. In any situation that comes, we monitor and if there is anything, we respond accordingly. But our own job is to monitor to ensure that there is no problem.

“We appeal to people not to truncate the peace Ekiti people are witnessing because the present economic situation is not palatable, however, it is not peculiar to Nigeria or Ekiti alone, so we will just continue to pray for improvement in the economic situation in Nigeria.’’

In Delta State, the Police Command disclosed its plan to deploy personnel to maintain law and order during the protest.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Bright Edafe, said:" “We will do our normal deployment of officers to maintain law and order. The command will issue a statement tomorrow to that effect.”

On its part, the Kaduna State police command asked the NLC to shelve the protest in the state.

The Command’s Public Relations Officer, Mansir Hassan, hinged his plea on the precarious situation in the state, noting, however, that should the NLC insist on going ahead with the protest, the command would provide the necessary cover for them, warning the protesters to be law-abiding.

Hassan said: “The command is appealing that the protest should not even hold. They should understand the nature of Kaduna and that it is not everywhere they should come and protest.

“We have enjoyed relative peace in the state. We will provide adequate security for them and we are appealing to be law abiding. Although we have had a cordial relationship with the NLC for a long but if they insist, we will give them the necessary cover.

“They should know that where their rights stop, that is where other people’s rights start. In fact, we are evening appealing that the protest should not hold. We are calling on the hoodlums to desist from infiltrating into the NLC protest.”