The Chairman, Police Service Commission (PSC), Musiliu Smith, has blamed the misconduct of officers of the Nigeria Police Force for the #EndSARS protests that rocked the nation in October 2020.
Naija News reports that Smith stated this on Tuesday during a retreat with the IG and his police management team, in Abuja.
Recall that Nigeria’s Minister for Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, had falsely claimed that the October protests were instigated by political and religious leaders.
He also said the demonstrations which were subsequently hijacked by hoodlums leading to widespread violence and looting, were aimed at overthrowing the Federal Government.
In views different from that of the Minister, the PSC boss lamented the level of misconduct in the police force.
According to the former Police Inspector-General, his office was always inundated with complaints from Nigerians.
Smith said, “We are always having a lot of complaints from the members of the public against police officers. I believe that #EndSARS resulted from serious misconduct of some of our personnel.
“I want to advise that we review the arrangements we are making for investigating such cases. Let’s ensure that investigations are thoroughly conducted and whoever is the police officer that has been indicted will be punished according to the law. If we are doing that, some of the public complaints will go down.”
He advised the IGP Mohammed Adamu to work with the PSC on the recruitment of credible Nigerians into the force.
Smith added that the number of court cases against the police was alarming, stressing that the force may not be able to pay the damages awarded against it.
