By Dada Ahmed
Ilorin
The Police Command in Kwara state has debunked the report making round that its personnel distrupted or attacked #ENDSARs protesters in Ilorin on Sunday, as claimed by a tweet in circulation.
SP Okasanmi Ajayi,te
Police Public Relations Officer(PPRP), for the command,
stated this in a release in signed and made available to Journalists in Lokoja on Sunday.
He said: “Since the beginning of the Endsars protest in Kwara State, the protesters have enjoyed the full protection of Kwara State police Command.
“There has neither been any negative reports from the protesters, nor the citizens in the course of the protests.
“However, today’s protests as peaceful as it was at the beginning, witnessed a hitch toward the end when some of the protesters attempted to loot shops at Post office area but were promptly resisted by the shop owners.
“The tweet in question is an obvious mischief that should not be taken serious.
“The Commissioner of Police Kwara, Cp Kayode Egbetokun, wishes to reiterate once again, the Command’s absolute commitment to the protection of lives and property and Human rights protection of the people of Kwara State and by extension that of youths on peaceful protests in the state.
“He appeals to youths who are protesting to carry out their protests in peaceful manner as they have been doing in the past 8.
“They should, however, watch out for criminal elements in their midst who may be looking for opportunity to loot the shops of other law abiding and hardworking youths.
“He believes Peaceful protest is a right that must be exercised without violating the rights of others. The protesters,therefore, should refrain from violating the rights of others.
” He also appeals to the good people of Kwara state to be wary of what they read in the social media and not be misled by false publications.
“They should always verify the facts before they tweet, retweet, post or circulate negative stories, especially at this delicate period.
“We should not be pushed into crisis that will hurt our economy further when we are yet to recover from the economic hurt of the pandemic lockdowns.
“People should go about their lawful businesses without any fear of molestation.
“Complaints against Policemen in the state can be made directly to the Commissioner of Poolice through the following phone numbers 08125275046 and 07032069501 and same numbers are available for feed back on the complaints.”
