•says it only prevented looting
By Stanley Onyekwere
The FCT police command has refuted reports that policemen attacked protesters at the popular Utako Market in Abuja, the nation’s capital city, yesterday when Nigeria marked her 64th independence anniversary.
To this end, the Police command categorically debunked such narrative, describing it as complete false and misleading.
However, Police disclosed that acting on intelligence, its operatives only took measures to forestall some miscreants who were taking advantage of the protest to loot shops in the market and as a result, extended focus to them.
“As a responsible agency, we could not stand by and allow traders to be robbed of their hard-earned money and belongings without intervening.
“We therefore urge the populace to disregard such misleading and mischievous information, as the command is committed to ensuring the safety of the populace in the exercise of their civil rights”, the Police Public Relations Officer of the FCT command, SP Josephine Adeh stated in a statement yesterday.
PeoplesDaily however, gathered that as the rumours of the attack on some anti-demonstrators broke, before our correspondence got to Utako, the Police had dispersed the protesters with tear gas.
Never miss a moment! Get the stories shaping Nigeria, delivered straight to your phone. Follow Peoplesdaily Newspaper on WhatsApp for breaking news, exclusive reports, and the headlines everyone will be talking about, before anyone else.
