The Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun, has denied the police excessive use of force on the protesters and shooting of live ammunition at the protesters during the ongoing nationwide hunger and hardship protest.
The IGP’s denial came on Tuesday while fielding questions at the joint security press briefing in Abuja, despite video and photos evidences making the rounds on social media of policemen shooting live ammunition at the peaceful #EndBadGovernance protesters.
The officer, attached to the Rijiyar Lemo Police Division, was seen addressing a large crowd of demonstrators in Kano, warning that he would have no qualms about using lethal force if any of his personnel were harmed during the protests.
Newsdirect had also reported that no fewer than 13 protesters have been killed during the #EndBadGovernance protests, according to Amnesty International
The IGP said, “The police and the military, indeed, no other security agency involved in the management of this protest has deployed excessive use of force. Instead, what we had was an attack on security agents during the protest.
“From our record, there was no shooting incident by the police. The police or the military did not use any live ammunition in the management of this protest. Instead, we have had cases where our officers were injured critically and they are still in critical condition in the hospital as we speak.
“So, I will dismiss that (allegations) as fake news. It is not true. It is a very wrong allegation. We didn’t use excessive force at all. We didn’t even deploy the whole of our strength in this protest, even when it turned violent.
“We have water cannons we didn’t deploy. We have rubber bullets we didn’t use. All that we have used in the management of this protest is teargas smoke and nothing more