The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, has clarified that individuals arrested during the #EndBadGovernance protests, including minors, were detained for vandalism, not for exercising their right to peaceful protest.
Speaking during a high-level meeting he held with all heads of investigative units in Abuja, Egbetokun emphasised that the arrests targeted those who damaged public infrastructure and private property, rather than lawful demonstrators.
He said, “I want to use this opportunity to correct an impression. The impression that those minors were arrested for participating in the #EndBadGovernance protest. That is a wrong narrative. It is not true.
“The police did not arrest anybody who participated in the #EndBadGovernance protest. We arrested criminals who took advantage of the protest to cause destruction to public infrastructure, to destroy private businesses, and to commit a sin. Those cannot be regarded as protesters.
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“The police did not arrest any protester. Television stations showed where police gave escort to protesters. We protected the protesters.
“But we arrested the criminals. So, it’s a wrong narrative. It is mischievous for anybody to push the narrative that those 76 suspects who were arraigned in court were suspects, were people who participated in the #EndBadGovernance protest.
“The suspects were not #EndBadGovernance protesters. They were criminals who were arrested during that period of protest. These persons were captured on video committing a sin.”
Daily Trust reports that Tinubu last week ordered the immediate release of the minors arrested during the #EndBadGovernance# protests nationwide after national outrage.
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