Policemen flee as hoodlums attack station in Ekiti

By RASAQ IBRAHIM, Ado-Ekiti

Some operatives of Ikere Division Police in Ikere-Ekiti, the headquarters of Ikere Local Government Area of Ekiti State on Saturday fled for safety when some hoodlums attacked the division.

The Nation gathered the hoodlums who stormed the station around 2 pm and damaged the building and four vehicles parked within the premises of the station.

It was learnt the hoodlums, who were victims of police unethical conduct had earlier blocked some major roads in town before invading the station.

An eyewitness told our correspondent that some of the police officers in the station took to their heels on sighting the irate hoodlums.

Our correspondent, who visited the station observed that about 40 glasses of the windows had been shattered while its fences were in shambles.

Windscreens and side glasses of four vehicles parked within the division were vandalised.

The roof of a building close to the station, among others, were also destroyed.

Commissioner of Police, Mr. Babatunde Mobayo, who confirmed the incident, said the attack on the station was not only condemnable, barbaric but an onslaught against the police.

Mobayo, in a statement on Sunday by the police spokesperson, Sunday Abutu, said that whether the attack was orchestrated by the EndSARS protesters or hijackers, the command won’t tolerate violent protest in Ekiti, because it infringes on the rights of the citizens.

Mobayo warned he will not allow the state to be thrown into anarchy, saying no property belonging to the corporate body, individuals, or government should be attacked during any protest perceived to be peaceful, legal, and mass-oriented.

The statement reads: ” On Saturday, 17th October 2020, a group of hoodlums in their large numbers, in the name of protest, went wild and attacked Ikere Area Command as well as Ikere Divisional Police Headquarters, destroying items worth millions of naira in the process.

“Part of the items destroyed were: the Area Command and the Divisional Headquarters’ Fences/Gates, Divisional Headquarters’ Signposts, about 40 window glasses, four vehicles, the roof of a building close to the station, among others.

“The Ekiti state Commissioner of Police, however, condemns such attack on Police properties and innocent citizens, noting that the attack could be described as barbaric, wicked and uncalled for”. (The Nation)