Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, has refuted claims that the police, military, and other security agencies used excessive force on #EndBadGovernance protesters. Speaking at a meeting of security agency heads on Tuesday in Abuja, IGP Egbetokun emphasized that security operatives faced attacks during the protests and did not employ live ammunition.
“The police and the military, indeed no other security agency involved in the management of this protest has deployed excessive use of force. Instead, what we had were attacks on security agents during the protest. From our record, there were no shooting incidents by the police,” Egbetokun stated.
He clarified that non-lethal measures, such as teargas, were used to manage the protests, dismissing reports of excessive force as “fake news and very wrong allegations.” He added, “We didn’t even deploy the whole of our strength in this protest even when it turned violent. We have water cannons we did not deploy, we have rubber bullets we didn’t use.”
The IGP also rejected claims that the police force was overstretched by the protests. He highlighted that security forces continued to address other criminal activities, including armed robbery, during the demonstrations, except for kidnapping. “We were not overstretched; we had standby units that we didn’t deploy in managing this protest. Even while the protests were going on, a number of criminals were arrested,” he said.
Addressing a specific incident in Kaduna, Egbetokun denied reports that an Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) was hijacked by protesters. “The situation in Kaduna is that we didn’t even deploy APC for the protest. The APC you saw was deployed to the Government House in Kaduna. Protesters went to the gate and as the driver was driving out, those protesters climbed the APC. And what the driver did was to make a U-turn and go back to the front of the Government House gate. It wasn’t a case of hijacking APC,” he clarified.
The IGP’s statements come amid ongoing nationwide protests demanding better governance, lower fuel prices, and economic reforms. The demonstrations have led to clashes between protesters and security forces, resulting in injuries on both sides.