The Pressure Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, has stated the police operatives solely arrested riotous people who have been engaged in criminality in the course of the ongoing nationwide protest.
Mr Adejobi, a chief superintendent of police, stated this in the course of the month-to-month information convention organised by The Strategic Communication Inter-agency Coverage Committee (SCIPC) hosted by the Division of States Providers (DSS) on Monday in Abuja.
He stated that there have been variations between protests and riots.
Mr Adejobi stated that whereas there have been peaceable protests in some states, there have been riots and criminalities in others on the primary day.
“So, arrests of sure people who’ve been riotous shouldn’t be seen because the arrest of protesters.
“Allow us to get it clear. Some states in Nigeria have been having peaceable protests, and safety businesses have been partaking them.
“I’m positive, and I do know you might be conscious, that some governors and public workplace holders have been partaking them.
“You may solely have interaction in a gathering, an meeting that’s pleasant and accessible, the place you’ve gotten people wielding stones, offensive weapons, harmful weapons and all of the likes.
“I don’t suppose an affordable man will transfer shut or be in the course of such a gathering,” he stated.
Mr Adejobi stated the police, navy and different safety businesses engaged the protesters professionally throughout the nation.
He stated that the protesters in Abuja had violated the court docket ruling that restricted them to the primary bowl of the Moshood Abiola Nationwide Stadium.
In line with him, some individuals have intentionally and willfully violated the court docket ruling.
He stated the police presence was to not harass or intimidate anyone however to guard the nationwide belongings, including that the barricade at Eagle Sq. was to guard the Three Arms Zone.
“You’ll agree with me that in some areas in Abuja, we recorded riots, and this protest was violent.
“Wherever we’ve got these engagements, I don’t suppose we should always seek advice from such an meeting or a gathering or a procession as peaceable anymore.
“I wish to affirm once more that these which were arrested to date, to one of the best of my information and with the data I’ve from all of the states, are criminally minded people.
“They went out, who really engaged in numerous felony offences starting from armed theft, murder, mischief, or the one we name malicious injury of personal and public amenities; homeowners are in ache as I converse with you.
“So I don’t need us to make use of the phrase protesters for individuals who are literally, to one of the best of our information and based mostly on our findings, which can be rioters and, after all, criminally minded people.
“We have now arrested 873 suspects to date, and these suspects are those that are immediately related to 1 felony offence or the opposite,” he added.
Mr Adejobi additionally denied that the police and different safety businesses attacked journalists who have been masking the protests, including that they solely prevented folks from gathering at unauthorised locations.
He stated the police had additionally apprehended some people for treasonable felony for carrying the flags of a overseas nation on Nigerian soil.
“Simply this morning, we arrested Ahmed Tailor from Kwanahudu, in Nasarawa Native Authorities Space of Kano State, for producing a big amount of Russian flags given to younger Nigerians to go and fly for causes recognized to him.
“We’re profiling him, we wish to get different sponsors like him and as I converse with you, the identical factor has occurred in Kaduna.
“We have now been in a position to arrest 30 of them with the identical Russian flags, and I don’t need us to imagine that for now, at this stage, we’re nonetheless having a protest.
“The undertones of this protest, based mostly on our intelligence earlier than it commenced on 1 August, have begun to manifest,” he added.
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