Presidential aspirant for 2023 elections, Senator Rochas Okorocha has said there’s nothing like police brutality in Nigeria.
Rochas had slammed the Nigeria Police Force last December for abducting his son-in-law, Uche Nwosu.
The former governor said this on Arise TV while referencing the #EndSARS protest
In October 2020, Nigerian youths hit the streets across the country in the #EndSARS protest against prolonged police brutality in Nigeria.
He said:
“There is nothing like police brutality. There is only youths brutalising youths. The police that brutalises his brother on the streets did so not because he is a police but because he is a young man frustrated,” Mr Okorocha asserted.
Recall that last December, Mr Okorocha had accused the police of abducting his son-in-law Uche Nwosu and assaulting his wife at a church service. He said the police also assaulted his daughter.
Disbandment of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Nigerian police, justice for victims of police brutality and better welfare for police officers were part of the demands of the #EndSARS protesters.
On October 20, 2020, Nigerian soldiers opened live rounds on the protesters at Lekki Tollgate, killing and injuring some of them, eliciting global outrage.
After months of hearing testimonies of witnesses, lawyers, experts, among others, the panel submitted its report on the shooting of protesters at the Lekki Tollgate, to the Lagos government.
In its report, the panel described the incident as a massacre and established that the Nigerian military shot live bullets and killed several protesters, as well as taking corpses away in their vans. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu subsequently set up a four-member committee to raise a white paper on the reports submitted by the panel.