Mass looting: Sack IGP now, group begs Buhari
Against the backdrop of mass looting and destruction of public and private properties in some parts of the country by hoodlums, foremost rights advocacy group, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to relieve Inspector General of Police, Muhammad Adamu of his job, without further delay.
The group chided Mr Adamu for allegedly failing to provide adequate security at warehouses where palliatives were stored by state governments for the people. In a statement made available to Vanguard, national coordinator of the group, Emmanuel Onwubiko said the shameful vandalization of public institutions and private homes has exposed the Nigeria Police Force as an institution lacking professionalism and discipline.
The statement read: “Inspector General of Police, Mohammad Adamu should be sacked forthwith for failing to prevent Nigerians from massively invading public and private properties in Calabar, Lagos, Rivers, Abia, Imo, Anambra, Edo, Niger, Plateau and Adamawa to steal, destroy and burn down assets of certain politically exposed individuals including some who are just successful private entrepreneurs like Senator Ndoma Egba whose mansion was invaded, looted and set alight by hoodlums.
“The mere fact that across the country, desperate citizens were seen invading public warehouses and massively looting storages perceived to be palliatives that were meant for the poor and the fact that the men and officers of the Nigerian Police Force were nowhere near those strategic public facilities to forestall the security breaches and the inexplicable withdrawal of police security details from Very Important Persons as directed by the Inspector General of Police Mohammed Adamu goes to show one of these two things:
“That Nigeria Police Force is indeed dysfunctional and grossly incapacitated by corruption and professional indiscipline and secondly, that the Nigerian Police Force deliberately withdrew the services of providing security of lives and properties of Nigerians which is the statutory mandate of the Nigerian Police Force as part of the larger conspiracy by the federal government of President Muhammadu Buhari to ridicule the #ENDSARS protest and to paint the protesters graphically before the international community as essentially made up of hoodlums and lawless thugs.”
This is as HURIWA insisted Mr Adamu has “no legal reason to remain in office with the massive scale of attacks of public and private properties carried out by hoodlums who did not have to worry about the police since the operatives were nowhere near the crime scenes.” Prominent politicians including the national leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu, had their business interests and properties destroyed last week following the turn of events occasioned by protests aimed against police brutality particularly the activities of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS. Vanguard
