El-Rufai condemns attack on police officers, meets youth leaders

Governor, Nasir El-Rufai

By CHIMEZIE ENYIOCHA

Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai has met with youth leaders from the 23 Local Government Areas of the state, appealing to them not to engage in any act of violence or looting.

During the stakeholders meeting on Friday, El-Rufai vowed to prosecute those behind the looting and threat of peace in Kaduna South and Chikun Local Government Areas according to the law.

“You cannot condemn an entire profession because of the misconduct of a few. SARS is just a small unit of the Nigerian Police Force, and even among SARS, they are not all bad,” he said

“Yes, some of them might have been quite bad and killed many people, but that should not be used to frame the police in a manner that people feel justified to attack and kill policemen.

“I have seen a video where a policeman was attacked and burnt to death. For what? That policeman is a human being, creation from God, he has children, and he has a family.

“Who will look after them? The Nigerian Police is the only police we have, it Is our collective duty as citizens, as leaders to come together and help the police to be better.”

The meeting had in attendance, the deputy Governor, Hadiza Balarabe, the Minister of Environment, Mohammed Mahmoud and other government officials.

The governor also condemned the recent attack of policemen and police barracks in some parts of the country during the #EndSARS protest which led to the death of some officers.

While admitting that there are some bad officers in the Force that should be fished out, El-Rufai warned on the dangers of attacking officers or tagging the entire force as bad because of the misconduct of a few personnel.

He, however, stressed the need as citizens and leaders to come together and help the police to perform better in securing the lives and property of the people.

Suspected Looters Arrested

The Kaduna State Police Command has arrested 93 suspected looters and vandals of public and private property in various parts of the state capital.

Some people hiding under the #EndSARS protest, had last weekend invaded some government warehouses,  including the office of the National Agency for Food Drug Administration and other private property and carted away COVID-19 palliatives, seized fake and expired drugs, and other items.

Briefing journalists on the security situation in the state, the Commissioner of Police, Umar Muri explained that the arrested suspects were responsible for the unprecedented vandalization and theft of public and private properties across the state.

He said that the police also recovered several looted items including bags of grains, expired drugs, mattresses,  bundles of zinc, computers,  air conditioners, water testing machines and many others, all looted from the NAFDAC office, private and public warehouses as well as private homes.

According to the commissioner, the command in collaboration with other sister security agencies has so far dealt decisively with all acts of lawlessness in the state, adding that all the suspects will be charged to court. (Channels TV)