The Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, has said the police operatives only arrested riotous individuals who were engaged in criminality during the ongoing nationwide protest.
Mr Adejobi, a chief superintendent of police, said this during the monthly news conference organised by The Strategic Communication Inter-agency Policy Committee (SCIPC) hosted by the Department of States Services (DSS) on Monday in Abuja.
He said that there were differences between protests and riots.
Mr Adejobi said that while there were peaceful protests in some states, there were riots and criminalities in others on the first day.
“So, arrests of certain individuals who have been riotous should not be seen as the arrest of protesters.
“Let us get it clear. Some states in Nigeria have been having peaceful protests, and security agencies have been engaging them.
“I am sure, and I know you are aware, that some governors and public office holders have been engaging them.
“You can only engage in a gathering, an assembly that is friendly and accessible, where you have individuals wielding stones, offensive weapons, dangerous weapons and all the likes.
“I don’t think a reasonable man will move close or be in the middle of such a gathering,” he said.
Mr Adejobi said the police, military and other security agencies engaged the protesters professionally across the country.
He said that the protesters in Abuja had violated the court ruling that restricted them to the main bowl of the Moshood Abiola National Stadium.
According to him, some persons have deliberately and willfully violated the court ruling.
He said the police presence was not to harass or intimidate anybody but to protect the national assets, adding that the barricade at Eagle Square was to protect the Three Arms Zone.
“You will agree with me that in some areas in Abuja, we recorded riots, and this protest was violent.
“Anywhere we have these engagements, I don’t think we should refer to such an assembly or a gathering or a procession as peaceful anymore.
“I want to confirm again that those that have been arrested so far, to the best of my knowledge and with the records I have from all the states, are criminally minded individuals.
“They went out, who actually engaged in various criminal offences ranging from armed robbery, homicide, mischief, or the one we call malicious damage of private and public facilities; owners are in pain as I speak with you.
“So I don’t want us to use the word protesters for those who are actually, to the best of our knowledge and based on our findings, that are rioters and, of course, criminally minded individuals.
“We have arrested 873 suspects so far, and these suspects are those who are directly connected to one criminal offence or the other,” he added.
Mr Adejobi also denied that the police and other security agencies attacked journalists who were covering the protests, adding that they only prevented people from gathering at unauthorised places.
He said the police had also apprehended some individuals for treasonable felony for carrying the flags of a foreign country on Nigerian soil.
“Just this morning, we arrested Ahmed Tailor from Kwanahudu, in Nasarawa Local Government Area of Kano State, for producing a large quantity of Russian flags given to young Nigerians to go and fly for reasons known to him.
“We are profiling him, we want to get other sponsors like him and as I speak with you, the same thing has happened in Kaduna.
“We have been able to arrest 30 of them with the same Russian flags, and I don’t want us to believe that for now, at this stage, we are still having a protest.
“The undertones of this protest, based on our intelligence before it commenced on 1 August, have begun to manifest,” he added.
(NAN)
