The Inspector-General of Police Committee on EndSARS Protest Damage Assessment says policemen have been hanging around like Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) since their stations were destroyed in the unrest that trailed the protests.
The chairman of the 10-man committee, Yaro Abutu, a Commissioner of Police, stated this after leading his team to assess the damage to police infrastructure in Lagos on Saturday.
He said that the policemen whose stations were set ablaze have been finding it difficult to carry out their legitimate duties.
“They (policemen) are hanging around their stations like IDPs (internally displaced persons). Not only were the stations burnt, their uniforms were also burnt. Because of the cosmopolitan and congested nature of Lagos, most policemen keep their uniforms in their offices. A good number of them hardly go back home until the weekend,” The Punch quoted Abutu to have said.
Similarly, the committee chairman said an unspecified number of policemen have gone missing or remain unaccounted for following the attack on police facilities by hoodlums.
He noted, “Do you know that at some of the stations, we cannot account for the policemen yet because when the mob came, some (cops) were killed and taken away, some were chased into the bush and the waterways. So, these are the kind of things we are still working on.
“We are still collating the number of destroyed police patrol vehicles, exhibits vehicles, personal vehicles and those belonging to the members of the public parked at the stations.
“From the damage recorded in terms of police patrol vans, it has a heavy impact on the quality and availability of patrol services in Lagos for the next few months, even till next year; it is massive. And to compound it, the patrol vans are brand new.”
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