51 Civilians, 22 Policemen Killed During EndSARS Mayhem Nationwide – IGP

A total of 73 persons, including 22 operatives of the Nigeria Police Force, were killed during the recent EndSARS mayhem nationwide, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu has revealed.

The Police boss, who made this known during a virtual conference with senior police officers on Friday, said 51 civilians and 22 police personnel were killed.

He also added that 37 civilians and 26 policemen were also injured during the mayhem.

Youths under the aegis of #EndSARS had protested police brutality and human rights abuses but the protests were hijacked by hoodlums who unleashed havoc across the country and set ablaze public and private property and infrastructure facilities.

Adamu told the senior police officers, during the meeting, that a total of 1,596 suspects have been arrested across the states in connection with the violence and looting sparked by the protests.

He noted that 14 States were mostly hit by the violence.

The states, according to him, were Lagos, Edo, Delta, Oyo, Kano, Plateau, Osun, Ondo, Ogun, Rivers, Abia, Imo, and Ekiti as well as the Federal Capital Territory.

He said: “In total, 71 public warehouses and 248 privately owned stores were looted in the course of the protests nationwide.

“A total of 51 civilian fatalities and 37 civilian injuries have been recorded while a total of 22 policemen were gruesomely murdered with 26 others injured by the protesters.

“Furthermore, 205 critical national security assets, corporate facilities and private property were attacked, burnt or vandalised.

“So far, a total of 10 firearms including eight AK 47 rifles carted away during the attack on police stations, and a locally made pistol have been recovered from elements operating under the guise of the ENDSARS protesters.

“In addition, 1,596 suspects have so far been arrested in connection with the violence and widespread looting by the protesters across the country.

“The breakdown shows that 520 suspects were arrested in Lagos; 367 in Plateau State; 210 in the FCT and 142 in Kwara State.

“Similarly, 82 suspects were apprehended in Osun State; 60 in Adamawa State and 36 in Kano and Ogun states respectively.

“Thirty-three suspects were arrested in Edo State; 20 each in Kaduna and Akwa Ibom states; 15 in Abia and Delta states and 13 in Oyo and Ekiti states respectively.

“Furthermore, 10 suspects were arrested in Rivers State and four in Ondo State. Out of these figures, not less than 1,117 have been charged to court across the country.”

Adamu said the statistics were collated between 11th October, 2020, when the protests assumed a national dimension and 27th October, 2020, showed that 14 states recorded major violence.

He encouraged the officers and men not to be demoralised by recent events particularly the attacks on police personnel and facilities.

“You should rather draw inspiration from the motivating words of Mr. President who in a speech delivered during the launch of the Presidential Youths Empowerment Scheme (P-YES) at the State House on Monday, 12th October, 2020, duly acknowledged that ‘the vast majority of men and women of the Nigeria Police Force are patriotic and committed to protecting the lives and livelihoods of Nigerians and we will continue to support them to do their jobs’,” he said.

Meanwhile, a nationwide search for #EndSARS protest looters led to the arrest of 41 suspects in Lagos on Friday by officers of the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) BEECROFT.

The suspects are believed to be among the hoodlums who allegedly vandalised malls, private shops and houses around Surulere, Apapa and Ijora parts of Lagos.

Goods estimated at over N100 million were recovered from them.

The Commander, NNS BEECROFT, Commodore Ibrahim Shettima, who paraded the suspects arrested by his men, said the navy also recovered a Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) looted from the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) headquarters and a truck loaded with various looted items including electronics, kitchen and home appliances, bicycles, auto spare parts, fabrics, clothes and shoes, COVID-19 palliatives, among others.

Shettima, who was represented by the base’s acting Executive Officer, Commander Andrew Zidon, said some of those arrested were minors and were released to their parents after screening.

It gathered that two other SUVs were stolen from NPA while many others were burnt when the NPA building was set ablaze.

Eight NPA officials were rescued from the burning structure.

According to Shettima, the base conducted over 200 active patrols and responded to more than 50 distress calls from citizens and organisations from October 19.

He said: “Beginning from around October 19, Lagos State plunged into a civil unrest characterised by riots, looting and reported widespread criminal activities by hoodlums and miscreants.

“The Nigerian Navy responded to the crisis in an effective and timely manner to help ensure the return of normalcy within its Area of Operations.

“This operation was conducted under the Lagos State Security architecture code named OP MESA which designates, Apapa, Orile, Ijora, Costain, Surulere, Mile 12, Amukoko, etc as the area of responsibility for the Nigerian Navy.

“In the course of carrying out our task, the base conducted patrols and took all necessary measures within the ambits of the law as well as Internal Security Standard Operating Procedure for the Armed Forces of Nigeria to help restore peace and order.

“This necessitated working with sister services as well as other Law enforcement agencies including the Nigerian Police.

“The suspects here are those we have degree of certainty on their involvement in the crimes. They are the ones we hope to hand over to the police.

“Among the 41 suspects arrested, some were 11, 12 or 13-year-olds and so not people we felt we should keep in custody.

“We invited their parents and handed them over to them. Suspects were arrested from various locations. The truck was intercepted under the bridge at Orile and the driver arrested.

“He said the truck was going outside Lagos. Through the driver, we have gotten other suspects.

“There was no confrontation with them. We have done serialisation of every item recovered and some of the owners have already identified what belongs to them.

“Not everything here was taken from malls. Some of them were stolen from small shops and homes.”

An employee of STI Textiles, Seun Olubode, who said their shops at Surulere and Lekki were looted, thanked the Navy for helping them get some of the items.

“We are thankful to the navy for the little one we have seen. We have identified our laces among the items but it is just like a scratch compared to what was looted. We are still thankful for these ones we have seen and hoping we will get more,” she said.

Another victim, Abubakar Mohammed, who said his spare part shop was looted twice with goods worth over N17 million carted away, told reporters he was able to identify some of his items among the recovered loot.