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Twenty-three #EndSARS protesters arrested by the Police
in Ogun State on Saturday, have been released, Governor Dapo
Abiodun, confirmed on Sunday.
“I can confirm that, following my instruction to the
Commissioner of Police,” the governor tweeted on his handle,
“detained protest organisers have been released from
detention.”
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I can confirm that, following my instruction
to the Commissioner of Police, detained protest organisers have
been released from detention.#BuildingOurFutureTogether #ISEYA— Prince Dr. Dapo Abiodun – MFR (@dabiodunMFR) October 11,
2020
The protesters were arrested on Saturday with the Police
claiming the peaceful protest had turned violent.
“Surprisingly, the protesters who were appealed jointly by the
Alake and Paramount ruler of Egba land and the Commissioner of
Police, Edward Ajogun left the Alake palace and headed to the
palace of Olowu where the traditional festival of Owu day was
ongoing and violently disrupted the ceremony which had ex-President
Olusegun Obasanjo and the Ogun State Deputy Governor, Noimot
Salako- Oyedele in attendance,” Ogun Police image-maker, Abimbola
Oyeyemi noted.
“They also damaged the back windshield of the deputy governor’s
official car before heading to SARS office at Magbon where they
fired some gunshots at the men and injured one Sgt Akabudike
Augustine. Consequently, men of the outfit dispersed them and
arrested 23 amongst them.
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“Some of their vehicles abandoned at SARS office were recovered
and searched, three guns namely; one pump action, two locally made
pistols, some rounds of ammunition and assorted charms were
recovered in one of the vehicles with registration number Lagos KRD
551GJ.”
SARS Dissolved
The #EndSARSprotests spanned for days in Africa’s most populous
nation with the call for the scrapping of the Special Anti-Robbery
Squad (SARS) – a unit of the Nigeria Police – attracting global
attention.
But Nigeria’s Police chief, Mohammed Adamu, on Sunday,
yielded to pressure, dissolving the tactical unit largely loathed
by many in the West African nation.
“The Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Nigerian Police,
otherwise known as SARS, is hereby dissolved across all formations,
the 36 state police command and the Federal Capital Territory where
they currently exist,” the Inspector General of Police (IGP) said,
acknowledging reports of extortion and brutality.
“All officers and men currently serving in the unit are to be
redeployed with immediate effect.”