The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun has said the planned protest will set Nigeria’s Economy backward.
He noted that he realises that every citizen has the constitutional right for peaceful assembly and protest but this particular protest whether peaceful or violent is ill timed.
According to a video released by the Force Public Relations Department on its X handle, the IGP appealed to the various groups planning to stage a physical protest to call it off for now.
He said ” We acknowledge the constitutional right of Nigeria Citizens to peaceful assembly and protest but this is not the best time to stage a protest whether peaceful or violent.It will only set us back and that is not what we need now.We don’t want to destroy our fragile economy”
” I will keep appealing that different groups that want to stage a physical protest, even peaceful protest should shelve it for now”
Kayode Egbetokun made reference to other protests which were said to be peaceful in the past but ended in violence.He emphasized that the Endsars protest which was also planned to be peaceful led to the destruction of several police stations, public facilities, financial institutions and loss of many lives.
” We have our own history of violent protest in Nigeria and I don’t believe we have to look to other countries to know the dangers of unchecked demonstrations.From experience, violent protests of such magnitude always lead to violent crimes because violent crimes will take off immediately after violent protest”
“Insecurity will take over and we are already battling with so much insecurities.This is the experience that some people want to be repeated.People have forgotten that the rifles and guns in the armouries of those Police stations that were burnt were also looted .We were able to recover some of those arms but a lot of them got into the hands of criminals which is making the criminals stronger.Those arms will be used on innocent Nigerians ”
He however maintained that Nigeria does not deserve a repeat of any incident that will put the life of anyone on the line or affect the businesses of every individual.
” There are people that would have nothing to eat in a day if they don’t work .If you occupy the place and say nobody should work, what will happen to those people who would not have food on their table in a day? ” he said.
