#EndSARS protests: Ekiti CP condemns destruction of police station

The Ekiti State Commissioner of Police, Mr Baba-tunde Mobayo, has condemned the violent attack on a police station in the state allegedly by #EndSARS protesters in the state.

CP Mobayo warned against such act, saying the rights of the people should not be trampled upon during any peaceful mass action.

The CP further said the attack on the police station at Ikere Ekiti on Saturday was not only condemnable, but barbaric.

The police boss insisted that whether the attack was carried out by #EndSARS protesters, hijackers or hoodlums, violent protests would not be tolerated in Ekiti because they infringed on the rights of other citizens.

Mobayo pointed out that the action was an onslaught on the police, stressing that no property belonging to any individual, corporate body or government should be attacked during any protest perceived to be peaceful, legal and masses oriented.

Some protesters branded as “hoodlums” by the police had on Saturday, attacked the Ikere Police Division and damaged the building and four vehicles in the premises.

In a statement, the command’s spokesperson, ASP Sunday Abutu, on Sunday, added, said, “On Saturday, 17th October, 2020, a group of hoodlums in their large numbers in the name of a protest went wild and attacked Ikere Area Command as well as Ikere Divisional Police Headquarters, destroying items worth millions of naira in the process.”

Meanwhile, the Osun Mall located at Old Fakunle in Osogbo was on Saturday evening vandalised and looted by hoodlums.

The hoodlums took advantage of the security gaps in the aftermath of the pandemonium that broke out during the #EndSARS protest in which the Governor, Mr. Adegboyega Oyetola, was attacked at Olaiya in Osogbo.

The hoodlums vandalised and looted many shops in the mall and carted away phones, laptops and other valuables. They also vandalised the Oja-Oba Police Station and smashed a car which was parked in the premises.

It was further learnt that the hoodlums moved to Sabo and extorted people; forcefully collecting money from commercial drivers and motorcyclists.

The new Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in Ogun State, Alhaji Mustapha Ismail aka Yaro Ade, lamented that in the wake of the #EndSARS protests the state secretariat of the union was looted even though it had been under lock and key following a prolonged leadership crisis within the union.