A retired Commissioner of Police, Mr Frank Oditah, on Friday said that he was afraid that the looting and insecurity generated by the #EndSARS protests might get worsen if the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) is not quickly repositioned.
Oditah, speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, alleged that there had been a spike in crime as a result of a breakdown in law and order across the state and the country as a whole.
“Unless an urgent action is taken to reverse this situation by immediately equipping and repositioning the NPF to be in a position to carry out their constitutional responsibilities, we may be slipping into unpleasant situations.
“Until this is done, it is everyone to himself and God for all of us,” he said.
The Octogenarian said that the #EndSARS protests started as a genuine and legitimate demand for the scrapping of SARS unit of the police force due to the excessive abuses of the rights of the citizens by some bad eggs among them.
“It is very unfortunate that what our youths started in a very organised manner has now been infiltrated by criminals.
“They have taken the laws into their hands to unleash terror on the Police thus enabling them carry out their nefarious activities unchallenged.
“The events unfolding in the last 24 hours have exposed how unsafe we are now in this country,” he said.
According to him, several police stations have been burnt, a local government secretariat burnt, the palace of the Oba of Lagos attacked, the house of Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s mother’s also attacked among other destroyed organisations.
Oditah said that the inability of the Police to protect themselves or their assets speaks volumes on the level of neglect and rot in the present day NPF.
“Otherwise, how can hoodlums burn and loot police stations and barracks without resistance from the police officers themselves.
“If the Police charged with the responsibility of internal security cannot protect themselves, how can they protect the citizens they are hired to protect,” the retired commissioner said.
