Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Adamu says the majority of police personnel are good contrary to opinions held by the public following the #EndSARS protests.
Adamu stated this on Tuesday during his visit to Lagos to assess the level of damage following the vandalisation of police stations across the state.
In a late-evening press conference at the Command’s headquarters, the IGP encouraged the public to get police permit before embarking on protest in order to avoid violence.
“When they campaigned against SARS, they came up with five demands and after about four days’ protest, the authorities acceded to those demands because they were demands that could lead to reforming SARS,” he said.
“Our expectation was that after that, the protesters will all go back and leave the streets, but then they didn’t.
“Every security agent knows that when people come out to protest without observing the protocol, there is always a tendency for the protest to subsequently turn violent.
“The attack by hoodlums in this manner has the tendency to provoke the police and when we are provoked, we have the capacity and strength to repel these people.
“However, we have shown restraint by not using maximum force to repel the hoodlums and criminals that went about destroying properties and killing people.
“So, that resilience that you have in showing restraint has shown that no amount of provocation will lead you to give credence to what they have been preaching on police brutality.
“I am happy to note that not everybody in the country agreed with the violence; not everybody agrees that police are bad. Every organisation and institution in any country breeds a few bad eggs just like we have a few in the police that are bad. However, the majority of Nigerian police officers are good.”
