...I was quoted out of context - Lalong
Plateau State Governor Simon Bako Lalong, yesterday, said he was quoted out of context in his interview with State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on the ongoing #EndSARS protest.
Lalong, who was reacting at the government house in Jos, was reported on Friday by various media outfits as saying that the Northern Governors Forum, which he heads, wanted the return of the scrapped Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).
He said what "I simply conveyed in the interaction with State House correspondents was the need for deeper and holistic reform of the entire policing architecture in the country.
"And I stressed the fact that despite the condemnable atrocities by some members of the dissolved SARS, there are some among them that are good and performing their duties diligently and as such there should not be blanket condemnation.
"This is why I cited the examples of some northern governors who testified that the disbanded SARS contributed significantly to the fight against insurgency, banditry, kidnapping and other violent crimes in their states.”
Meanwhile, the governor has constituted a judicial panel of inquiry to investigate complaints of police brutality and related extrajudicial killings in the state.