#EndSARS Aftermath: IGP Adamu Sends Message To Policemen

The Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Adamu, on Wednesday, encouraged policemen to put behind them the #EndSARS protest, which was hijacked by hoodlums and led to the loss of lives of protesters and policemen and properties.

IGP Adamu urged his men to brace up for the duty, policing, and securing of Nigeria.

Adamu, briefing journalist in Lagos after meeting with Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, encouraged police personnel not to be discouraged by the unprecedented events, the Adamu reminded police personnel of the training which had prepared them for such risks.

AllNews learnt that following the killing of policemen and the burning of several police stations across the country by hoodlums that hijacked the #EndSARS protest, members of the Nigeria Police had become demoralised, leading to police officers staying off road duties despite appeals from state governor to return to work.

Recall Adamu was on tour in Lagos to the affected police commands and other formations to assuage their feelings and lift their morale.

“Lagos seems to be the epicenter where the incidents took place. The amount of destruction is more in Lagos than in any other state. I am here to commiserate with the governor of Lagos State and the people of the state on the amount of destruction to public property and private businesses."

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Adamu said, "my visit is also to see the police stations that were destroyed and talk to officers and men of the Nigeria Police and encourage them not to be demoralized by the events that took place where they were attacked and police stations destroyed.

“They are specially trained to take this kind of risk because, by the nature of police job, they are exposed to this type of risk.

"Now that this has happened, it shouldn’t discourage us from performing our constitutional duties," he said.

“Apart from the police stations destroyed, private businesses were destroyed; even the palace of Oba of Lagos was destroyed.

"I would urge the citizens any time you want to undertake a peaceful protest, it’s important to set up a protocol in order not to allow miscreants to hijack the protest. The moment you allow that the intent of the protest will be defeated as in the case of this peaceful protest we witnessed."

Adamu said "no nation will be able to bear the loss as we see in Lagos. Even it will take a long time.”

Adamu decried the massive devastation left in the wake of the #EndSARS protest, noting that regrettably, it was engineered by fake news.

Adamu was in Lagos with other senior officers to assess the impact of the damage done by hoodlums.

He started an on-the-spot assessment from the Makinde Police Division in Mafoluku, where the station and barracks were burnt by hoodlums in the community.

From there he and the other senior police officers moved to Orile Police Station, and then Ebute Ero Division after which then he moved to assess the damage at the Iga Idunganran, the official residence of the Oba of Lagos, where he had a private session with him

Adamu also visited the Ikoyi Police Hospital to see some of the policemen injured during the #EndSARS crisis.

At the state police command headquarters, Lagos, the IGP recapped the incident that led to the protest.

Adamu said, “The #EndSARS protest was engineered by fake news that came out of Delta State where the local security outfit called Operation Delta Safe in routine stop-and-search accosted some individuals.

“Out of guilt, one of them decided to bolt out of the vehicle and an individual who wanted to spread mischief took a video of the incident and posted it on social media that the police had killed somebody.

“That led to protests in Delta State and in the course of our investigation, we found out that nobody was killed and SARS was not involved.

“But then with the use of social media, everything went so wide to the extent that Lagos picked it and it became a serious matter; it became the epicentre of the EndSARS group that started in 2017.

“They resuscitated it and came up with the campaign against #EndSARS. They came with five demands and after about four days of protest, the authorities acceded because it could lead to reform of the SARS itself.

“Our expectation was that after that, they would leave the streets but they did not. Every security agency knows that when people come out to protest without observing the protocol; you stay too long on the streets protesting, there is always a tendency for protests to become violent.”

Commending the policemen, Adamu said, “When the police are viciously attacked by hoodlums in this manner that we have seen, the tendency is for the police to be provoked and they have the power and capacity to repel.

“But you showed maximum restraint by not using maximum force to repel the miscreants that went about destroying property and killing people here and there.

“That restraint and resilience you have shown has shown that no amount of provocation will lead you to give credence to police brutality.

“That has turned the table against the protesters and everyone knows that you were professional in handling the protests, which subsequently turned violent.”

Adamu acknowledged that in every organisation there must be few that are bad.

Restating the president’s speech in support of the police, Adamu said, “The vast majority of men and women of the Nigeria Police Force are patriotic and committed to protecting the lives and livelihood of Nigerians and we will continue to support them to do their best.”

Adamu, also charged the policemen not to be disturbed or demoralised by the events that took place, adding that they were specially trained to take such kind of pains “because, by the nature of policing, you are always exposed to danger.

“Now that this has happened, it shouldn’t discourage us from performing our constitutional duties. It is true that some of them, their morale has been dampened but the visit is to encourage them not to relent in performing their constitutional duties to protect lives and properties,” Adamu said.