Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) and Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi has revealed how police brutalised him.
He said that policemen brutalised and fired teargassed at him in the build-up to the 2014 governorship election in the state.
According to him, a Commander of Police Mobile Force in Ado-Ekiti brutalised him during the symbolic sweeping of roads that Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members passed through during their rally.
The governor said he has found it difficult to forget the experience ever since.
Fayemi spoke in Ado Ekiti on Sunday during an interaction session by stakeholders’ on the recent #EndSARS protest.
He restated his commitment to joining other stakeholders to address the agitations of #EndSARS protesters.
“I am a victim of police brutality myself. You could all recall what happened to me during my election of 2014. But some policemen had also rendered good services to me, so not all of them are bad,” the governor said.
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Fayemi added, “The EndSARS protest was a noble cause. It was supported here in Ekiti not because of those involved, but for the reason behind the action which we believe would help the police to do their
“The youth protest in Ekiti was well intentioned and peaceful. Right to peaceful protest is an inalienable right. For the first time we have panel of inquiries at every level of government to tackle our issues.
“We must not resort to violence as a solution to our agitations. We must all speak in unison against violence as we did in unison against Police brutality.
“Our youth are angry because as they were coming out of closure of schools over coronavirus pandemic, they entered into ASUU strike, then there is hunger in the land and the harsh economic situation in our country.
“The government has done many intervention programmes and had proscribed SARS and introduced youth investment fund and many others as a response to the youth agitations.
“Our police must be motivated to do well. Policemen must be well remunerated. There must be good motivation for the police to be able to discharge their duties effectively”.