#EndSARS: Police arrests 520 suspects for arson, rioting, over 200 for looting in Lagos

*Lagos Police Command deployed personnel on a recovery mission for a house-to-house search of all looted items in various parts of the state, says Hakeem Odumosu, Lagos State Commissioner of Police

*Declares there is no #EndSARS person there… because the #EndSARS people are responsible and reliable members of the public

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

For alleged arson, robbery, murder and illegal possession of firearms during the ongoing anti-Police demonstrations in the country, the Nigeria Police has disclosed it arrested as many as 520 accused persons in Lagos State.

Hakeem Odumosu, Lagos State Commissioner of Police, said: “Based on these incidents, the Command was able to arrest a total of 520 suspects for various offences ranging from arson, robbery, murder, rioting, malicious damage, and unlawful possession of firearms.”

Some of the suspects arrested in Lagos

It was learnt besides, several Police officers and civilians we killed as a result of clashes, while many others were injured in the ensuing clashes during the march protests that hoodlums hijacked to perpetrate wanton violence across the metropolis.

Recall that the #EndSARS rallies across Nigeria ignited after numerous claims implicated the country’s now dissolved Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) Police unit in acts of killings, torture and blackmail.

The SARS Department of the Force was disbanded by the authorities and replaced with the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) squad.

However, the countrywide have protests continued against other forms of Police violence.

Report further indicates that Lagos witnessed yet another day of violent protests Tuesday, October 27, 2020, as the #EndSARS rallies continue across Nigeria.

According to the local Police, 16 Police stations were set on fire, and 13 more were vandalised.

Protesters burned 58 Police vehicles and 62 private cars, as well as several private and public institutions were defiled.

Likewise, Odumosu disclosed that the Lagos State Police Command had arrested over 200 suspects for their alleged involvement in the series of looting recorded in the state in the wake of the protests.

The Commissioner of Police paraded the suspects and some of the items recovered from them at the Police Headquarters Tuesday, in Ikeja, the state capital.

Some of the stolen items recovered from the suspects

According to him, the personnel of the Command deployed on a recovery mission went on a house-to-house search of all looted items in various parts of the state.

The arrested persons took advantage of the #EndSARS protest and got mixed with demonstrators to commit the crime, said Odumosu.

He, however, described the #EndSARS protesters as peaceful and well-behaved citizens. It took the Police much professionalism before the suspects were arrested, he disclosed.

He added: “As far as I am concerned now, there is no #EndSARS person there.

“Because the #EndSARS people are responsible and reliable members of the public. “There is no #EndSARS person that will go and carry a television, and you know when they mix with them (the #EndSARS protesters), we need a lot of patience, intelligence, and professionalism.

“All these ones are mop-up operations that we are doing. There is no way I will put on an Army uniform without a trained Army not seeing fault in the way I put it on because I am not trained to put it on.

“So, we have intelligence, we have sent our men out.”

He assured peaceful residents of the security of their lives and properties and urged them to continue to provide useful information that would lead to the arrest of more suspects.

On stolen arms and ammunition carted away during the attack on police stations, Odumosu said the police have gone after the hoodlums and were already recovering them.