The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has called on the Federal and State Governments to put a stop to the killing of protesters during the ongoing #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria protest.
Speaking via a statement, the NLC President Joe Ajaero opined that security operatives should use a show of force against bandits and not the citizenry.
He insisted that the citizens were peacefully protesting against the hardship in the land.
Ajaero lamented that once police introduces violence all hell will break loose.
The Congress demanded that those officers with blood stains on their hands be fished out for appropriate disciplinary action with their commanders.
Ajaero also demanded that adequate compensations should be paid to the families of casualties while government should be responsible for the treatment and rehabilitation of the injured.
The statement read in part, “One noticeable pattern was that once police personnel introduced violence, all hell broke loose in fulfilment of the credo that violence begets violence.
“We pause to ask, what happened to all the years of training or experience? No lessons learnt or was this a case of loss of human values on an industrial scale? Don’t our police personnel watch their colleagues in other parts of the world manage equally challenging (if not worse) situations?
“For a start, we demand that the cops with blood stains on their hands be fished out for appropriate disciplinary action. Ditto their commanders.
“Secondly, adequate compensations should be paid to the families of casualties while government should be responsible for the treatment and rehabilitation of the injured.
“Thirdly, all those arrested should be released immediately and unconditionally.
“On no account again should the police use live ammunition in managing protests no matter how difficult they get.
“In the days ahead, we look forward to a better crowd control mechanism even as the new directive from the IGP would sound to some of the personnel as a license to kill without reason.
“We would be monitoring closely as the situation unfolds. The police as the lead-agency vested with power and authority on issues of internal security should not only lead by (a good) example but an inspiration to other services.”
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