Gov Seyi Makinde of Oyo state, says he asked police to stay at the back and support other agencies during the #EndSARS protests because they were the target of the protest and did not “want an escalation in tension.”
Makinde said this on Wednesday, during a press briefing held at the Government House, Agodi, in Ibadan.
According to the Governor, #EndSARS protests led to loss of lives of ordinary people and even police personnel and there was total breakdown of trust.
“Even between my personal self and the police; because the police felt the governor should be supporting them, due to what I said that time that they should stay at the back.
“I didn’t say it because I do not love officers and men of the Nigerian police or because we are not appreciative of the work they are doing.”
”I can tell you that the officers of the Nigerian police in the state are doing their bit, it was a difficult situation we found ourselves and people thought the EndSARS had come and gone, and we should just go on with our life.
“No, it is like when a thread is broken though you can join it back but you will see a knot there, even the thread would have shorten.”
He appreciated and commended the efforts of the officers and men of the police for trying their best in securing lives and property in the state.
On the issue of Amotekun corps, Makinde observed that the media have reported many news about Amotekun in the last few weeks of its operational, attesting that some of the reports were good while few ones were bad.
He said that some of the bad news about Amotekun were false information/fake news; citing the news of few days ago where it was reported that the outfit killed seven Fulani herdsmen in Ibarapa area of the state.
The governor said such false stories were circulated to spark ethnic tension.
He said the truth about the report was that Amotekun corps worked with the community members including genuine herdsmen “to flush out bad elements in that zone.
“It has, therefore, become necessary to put the good people of Oyo state on high alert; each time you see any news item, ask yourself if it could be truth or false.
Some people who do not want Amotekun to succeed would like to put lies and disinformation to push their agenda.” Makinde asserted that community policing was the way forward and urged the people to make it work.
He urged anyone that has genuine case against any member of the Amotekun corps to come forward with their grievances, assuring that such case would be pursue to the full extend of the law.
