Ohanaeze Youths Join #endsars Protest, Demand Detainees’ Release
Scores of youths on Monday blocked the gate of the Onitsha Area Command of the Nigerian Police Force in Anambra state, in continuation of their protest against the operations of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and the reform of the Nigeria police force.
The protesters, among whom were citizens and residents of the commercial city, moved from the DMGS Roundabout to the Central Police Station, Onitsha, calling for reforms in the police and end to police brutality.
The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Wing, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Music Artistes and Disc Jockeys (DJs) and many other groups also joined the protesters who demanded freedom for their colleagues said to be wrongfully arrested and detained at the SARS offices at Awkuzu, Neni, Enugwu Ukwu, among others.
Speaking during the march, a protester, Chibuike Emmanuel, said it was in solidarity with similar protests going on across the country, to register the people’s displeasure over the spate of police brutality, illegal arrest and detention and extrajudicial killings which they experienced in the hands of some police operatives.
“What Nigerians go through in the hands of the police is unbearable. The people are now more scared of the policemen than the criminals. The very men paid to protect the people’s lives are the very ones snuffling life out of the people. It is quite unfortunate and Nigerians are saying ‘no’ to all these,” he noted.
A popular comedian, Lord Zeus, who related his experience in a police cell a week ago, said it was pity how people were detained for no just cause in those cells.
“Some of these youths are actually innocent. Some of the people I met were those arrested in connection with the protest of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPO, over six months ago. For many of them, their families don’t know anything about their whereabouts anymore, neither do they have any hope of coming out alive. The police authorities are, by this protest, urged to intensify efforts at ensuring that these innocent youths are released unconditionally,” he pleaded.
Leader of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Wing, Anambra state chapter, Mazi Chukwuma Okpalaezukwu, said they joined the march in order to ensure that it was not hijacked by hoodlums.
He revealed that Ohanaeze had resolved to form a committee to look into all the positions and grievances of the youths to ensure that impact is maximised and purpose served.
Addressing the protesters, deputy commissioner of police in charge of CPS, Onitsha, DCP Chollom Gyang, commended the youths for the peaceful manner they conducted themselves, saying that the protest reflected the beauty of democracy.
“The beauty of democracy is the ability of the people to express their feelings in a lawful manner without harassment. It is heart-warming that the inspector general of police, IGP Adamu Mohammed, has heard the cries of Nigerians and that was why SARS was disbanded.
“He has promised not just to end SARS, but also that the police force will be reformed. Our appeal to you and other Nigerians is to be patient as the ongoing reforms will yield the kind of police force our people have yearned for all these years,” he said.
On the persons detained in various SARS facilities across the state, Gyand said the state command had set up a special police team to visit the facilities during which those bailable will be bailed while the others will be charged to court.
In his words, “the reason we have a large number of suspects in the cells was due to the COVID-19 pandemic which made it difficult for courts to sit. Now that the courts have reopened, we hope to speed up the legal processes to ensure that we decongest the cells.”
#orientdailynews #endsars
