Some hoodlums attempted to disrupt the peaceful EndSARS protest at Alausa, Lagos state today October 14. The protesters however apprehended and handed them over to the police.
The hoodlums claim they were paid N10, 000 to disrupt the protest.
Recall that some hoodlums also attacked #EndSARS protesters in Abuja
earlier today.
The thugs, who stormed the venue around 2pm on Wednesday, reportedly attacked the protesters with cutlasses and other dangerous weapons.
The protesters had blocked a section of the Alausa road and were singing solidarity songs when their attackers suddenly appeared and disrupted their demonstrations.
However, no life was lost as the protesters repelled the assailants.
Thousands of youths across the country have in the last one week been protesting against the harassment and extrajudicial killings perpetrated mainly by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Nigeria Police Force.
The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has endorsed the #EndSARS protests rocking the nation.
Adeboye said this in a tweet on Wednesday evening.
The respected cleric tweeted, “Our daughters will not be able to prophesy and young men will not see visions if we don’t keep them alive.
“I support the youths in this peaceful protest as they “speak up” to #EndPoliceBrutality #EndSARS #ENDSWAT.”
Adeboye, who is a mentor to Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, had earlier in the year embarked on a protest against the killings in several parts of the country.
He had two weeks ago called for restructuring the country, a move which was criticised by the Presidency.
Thousands of youths have been protesting against the extrajudicial killings by policemen perpetrated mostly by men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad.
The protests have continued despite the disbanding of SARS.
There was pandemonium in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja on Wednesday as #ENDSARS protesters were attacked by other groups against the campaign.
Several persons were injured and vehicles vandalised as the invasion of the new groups led to a clash at the popular Berger Roundabout in Abuja.
It was chaos as people scampered for safety and tried to defend themselves as the invading groups attacked the protesters with sticks and machetes, destroying vehicles and anything on their path.
The situation held up vehicular traffic and business activity across the nation’s capital.
Armed policemen and other security agents who were around could not contain the situation.
The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, (IPOB) and Director of Radio Biafra, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has reacted to the nationwide protest by youths to end Special Anti-Robbery Squad, (SARS).
Speaking on Tuesday, October 13 in a statement made available through IPOB’s Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, revealed ‘three ingredients’ the youths can adopt to achieve positive results in Nigeria.
He said, “EndSARS campaign is heading in the right direction. Only three ingredients are needed now.”
He alleged that the authorities that want SARS to stay may try to bribe and lobby for it to continue, but urged the agitators and their leadership not to compromise in the agitations to end the evil wind that found its way into the Nigeria Police in the name of checking armed robbery.
The IPOB leader said: “The leadership of various groups on the ground in the agitation making it a must to resist every attempt by ruling cabal to buy them over.
“They will throw money at the issue in the hope of buying people off the streets, but they must be resisted.
“Consistency is vital at this stage. Don’t allow mental fatigue to creep in. Momentum has a natural multiplier effect. With the momentum the movement becomes unstoppable.
“These three key ingredients will deliver victory. After this, things will no longer be the same in Nigeria. I salute your courage. History beckons,” Nnamdi Kanu added.
Officials of Kirikiri Maximum Security Correctional Centre has failed to produce kidnap kingpin, Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike, a.k.a. Evans and his co-defendants before an Ikeja Special Offences Court to answer charges of kidnapping brought against them by the state.
It was gathered that the fear of possible attack by those who might want to take advantage of the #EndSARS protests made the officials of the Correctional Center to stay away from all courts in Lagos.
Evans and co-defendants were initially scheduled to appear before Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo on Tuesday, October 13 in continuation of their trial.
They are facing two separate charges of kidnapping and murder before Justice Taiwo’s court.
The two charges were listed as number 10 and 12 in the court’s cause list for Wednesday.
Enquiry from the court registrar showed that the two cases would not go on as scheduled.
It was learnt that the Correctional Centres had communicated to the court that they would not bring the defendants, citing the unrest in the city occasioned by the widespread #EndSARS protest.
“They are afraid of hijack by protesters,” the court register noted.
When contacted, the Lagos State Directorate of Public Prosecutions, Mrs. Adeyinka Adeyemi confirmed the development to The Nation.
NCS spokesman in Lagos, Rotimi Oladokun, couldn’t react as his mobile phone number was unavailable.
In one of the two charges before Justice Taiwo, the Lagos DPP accused Evans and three others of killing two persons, in their failed attempt to kidnap the Chairman of Young Shall Grow Motors, Obianodo Vincent on August 27, 2013.
According to the prosecution, the criminal operation took place at about 11pm on Third Avenue, Festac Town, Lagos.
Those murdered in the botched kidnap operation were identified as Peter Nweke and Chijioke Ngozi.
Evans was said to have carried out the operation in company of Joseph Emeka, Chiemeka Arinze and Udeme Upong.
The seven counts against them border on attempted murder, murder, kidnapping and illegal firearms deal.
In the second charge, Evans, one Victor Aduba and four others still at large were accused of conspiring among themselves to kidnap one Sylvanus Hafia at about 5.30pm on June 23, 2014 at Kara Street, Amuwo Odofin, Lagos.
The prosecution alleged that they captured and detained Hafia and demanded a $2m ransom from his family.
The defendants, whose trial started since 2017, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Despite the dissolution of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) by the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, on Sunday the #EndSARS protest continued in Abuja on Wednesday.
The protesters used vehicles to block motorists at Berger roundabout in Abuja chanting ‘end police brutality’.
This paralysed vehicular traffic in the area as impatient motorists made U-turn to avoid getting caught up in the resultant gridlock.
The protesters were seen stationed at Berger in large number.
The United Nations Resident Coordinator in Nigeria, Edward Kallon, has sued for peace amid the agitation and protest by Nigerians demanding an end to police brutality and extortion by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).
Kallon in a post on his official Twitter page said the decision of the Nigerian government to reform the police is welcomed and the youths should remain peaceful as the process of reforming the police may take time.
“I have followed the developments regarding #EndSARS movement. Government’s commitment to dismantle the outfit & reform the @PoliceNG is welcome. The process may take time. I appeal to the youth to remain peaceful. The @UN is committed to supporting Nigeria’s continued stability,” he tweeted.
I have followed the developments regarding #EndSARS movement. Government’s commitment to dismantle the outfit & reform the @PoliceNG is welcome. The process may take time. I appeal to the youth to remain peaceful. The @UN is committed to supporting Nigeria’s continued stability.
The Presidency on Tuesday said the Presidential Panel on the Reform of the now-disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad has approved the five-point demands put forward by youths that have been protesting across the country.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, disclosed this in a statement titled, ‘Presidential panel on police reforms swings into action, plays 5-point demand of protesters.’
Adesina said following directives by the President, Muhammadu Buhari on the dissolution of SARS, the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, convened a meeting with stakeholders, agreeing to meet demands.
He said the demands acceded to included halting use of force against protesters and unconditional release of arrested citizens.
According to the presidential spokesman, the meeting, organised by the Office of the Inspector General of Police and National Human Rights Commission, was a multi-stakeholders’ forum attended by leaders and representatives of civil society organisations in Nigeria, activists from the entertainment industry and the #EndSARS movement and development partners.
He said the Ministry of Police Affairs and Police Service Commission were also present at the meeting that affirmed that the five-point demands of the protesters and the #EndSARS movement are genuine concerns and will be addressed by the government.
He quoted a communiqué of the meeting signed by the IGP and Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission, Tony Ojukwu, as, “Following the public protests regarding various forms of human rights violations by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad and the consequent disbandment of the unit by the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, there arose the need for stakeholder engagement to build trust and restore public confidence in law enforcement.
“The agitations also brought to the fore, the need to implement the recommendations of the Presidential Panel on the Reform of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad.
“The Forum was addressed by the Inspector General of Police and the Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission.
“The Forum collectively: welcomed the dissolution of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad by the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu; reaffirmed the constitutional rights of Nigerians to peaceful assembly and protest; further affirmed the sanctity of life of every Nigerian and the role of the Police in protecting this right; affirms that the five-point demands of the protesters and the ENDSARS movement are genuine concerns and will be addressed by the government.’’
Adesina added that the forum noted that the dissolution of SARS presents an opportunity to embark on comprehensive reforms aimed at repositioning the Nigerian Police Force as a modern, responsive and citizens-centred law enforcement organisation.
The statement added, “The Forum further notes that the proposed reforms should be anchored under the basis of the White Paper on the Report of the Presidential Panel on the Reform of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad which was jointly authored by the National Human Rights Commission, the Federal Ministry of Justice, and the Nigeria Police Force.
“The Forum affirms that reform proposals for the Nigerian Police Force will be based on Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and existing legislations such as the Nigeria Police Act, 2020, the Nigeria Police Trust Fund Act, 2019, the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 the Anti-Torture Act, 2017, and the National Human Rights Commission Act, 2010 amongst others.
“Following the dissolution of SARS, the Forum calls for the following immediate steps to be taken in restoring public confidence and trust in the Police: An order by the Inspector General of Police to all State Commands to halt the use of force against protesters; Unconditional release of arrested protesters and citizens; Open communication and outreach to citizens to establish trust and confidence and a roadmap for the implementation of the White Paper of the Presidential Panel on the Reform of the SARS.
“The Forum welcomed the proposal to set up an Independent Investigation Panel to look into the violations of human rights by the defunct SARS and other segments of the Nigerian Police. The Forum agrees to the setting up of this Independent Panel by the National Human Rights Commission within the next one week. An open call for Memoranda from members of the public whose rights have been violated by the defunct SARS and other segments of the Police will be released by the Commission within one week.
“The Forum recommends the psychological evaluation, training and retraining of disbanded SARS officials prior to re-deployment. The Forum resolves to set up the following Technical Sub-Committees to design an implementation roadmap and work plan for the implementation of the White Paper: Training, Capacity and Re-orientation; Logistics: Infrastructure, Communications and Technology; Arrest, Detention, and Investigations; Regulations, Oversight and Accountability and Financing and Partnerships.’’
The communiqué stated that sub-Committees will be supported by the National Human Rights Commission and other civil society organisations.
Those who attended the meeting, according to the statement, are: Dr Kole Shettima- MAC Arthur Foundation; Innocent Chukwuma – Ford Foundation; Jude Ilo- of OSIWA; Segun Awosanya (segalinks) – End Sars Movement; Yemi Adamolekun- Enough is Enough; Clément Nwankwo- PLAC; Rafsanjani- CISLAC; Kemi Okonyedo- PWAN; YZ – CITAD; Folarin Falana Falz; Prof Deji Adekunle –NIALS; Chris Ngwodo, SSA to President Research & Policy; Dr Fatima Waziri – Rule of Law Adviser OVP and Abdulrahman Yakubu – NHRC Secretariat.
Others are: Hilary Ogbonna- NHRC secretariat; Halilu Adamu – NHRC Secretariat; Ben Aguh – NHRC secretariat; Dr Uju Agomuoh – PRAWA and Onyinye Ndubuisi – UNDP.
“Some of you need to be slapped!!! After posting end SARS on my page I should still go out and protest, so if police mistakenly fire a gun and the bullet kills me…..you will help me take care of my 85-year-old grandmother abi or my brothers who still look up to me. So if I die now, you think justice for Bobrisky will wake me up from death…..”
