Police Commission Boss Says #EndSARS Protests Caused by Police Misconduct
Misconduct on the part of some police personnel in Nigeria instigated the #EndSARS protests that rocked the country in 2020.
Chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC), Musiliu Smith, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja at a retreat with the inspector-general of police and his police management team.
Smith, a retired inspector-general of police, said “We are always having a lot of complaints from the members of the public against police officers. I believe that #EndSARS resulted from serious misconduct of some of our personnel.
“I want to advise that we review the arrangements we are making for investigating such cases. Let’s ensure that investigations are thoroughly conducted and whoever is the police officer that has been indicted will be punished according to the law. If we are doing that, some of the public complaints will go down.”
He said the number of court cases against the police was alarming, stressing that the force may not be able to pay the damages awarded against it.
Commentators have said Smith was more forthcoming and sincere about the protests and its root causes, as opposed to the minister of information, Lai Mohamed, who insisted that the protests, which started in October, were instigated by political and religious leaders in the country in order to overthrow the federal government.
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