On Thursday 10 August, the Public Relations Officer of the Nigerian Police, Mr Jimoh
Moshood accused the leader of a group of protesters under the aegis of
Concerned Nigerians, Charley Boy, of being overly dramatic.
The Police PRO said this on Channels TV’s Sunrise
Daily while defending that the Police only resorted to using tear gas
and water cannons to disperse protesters in order to prevent a breakdown
of law and order.
The protesters had on Monday taken to the streets of Abuja calling on President Buhari to either resume work or resign.
On Tuesday, however, the Police alleged that hoodlums had infiltrated
the protest which would have led to a total breakdown of law and order
if not for their prompt intervention. .
The leader of the group, Charles Oputa, popularly known as Charly Boy,
had collapsed twice during the protest as a result of the teargas.
Meanwhile, Mr Moshood stated that the account of the incident as
narrated by Charley Boy was wrong as the Police did not initially
prevent the group from embarking on the protest, but rather showed their
support on the first day.
“His first account alleging some Police men to have told them that they
shouldn’t come out to protest in the first instance is not correct. No
Police officer would do that.
Anything that has to do with politics or people protesting lies in the
rim of the responsibility of the people as provided for in the
Constitution. But like I said, we noticed the mix up in them of
miscreants and hoodlums and that is why the police have to intervene to
ensure that the protest doesn’t go beyond that.
When the Camera comes in must have been when Police intervention had
been done and they see smoke of tear gas. The smoke of tear gas can go
up for quite some minutes without subsiding until after the normal time
that the tear gas ought to subside.
So any camera man can pick a picture of that and you can see over
dramatisation by the leader of the protesters who was sitting on the
chair because the camera was coming to his side he decided to fall
down,” Moshood said.
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