As the #EndSars protests proliferate throughout major cities in Nigeria, suspected hoodlums on Monday hijacked the #EndSARS protests in Benin City, Edo State capital, while attempting to use the ensuing chaos to start a mass breakout of prisoners at the Maximum Security Prison in Oko, near Benin City.
According to the Special Adviser to Governor Godwin Obaseki on Media, Crusoe Osagie, the suspected hoodlums who operated under the cover of the ongoing #EndSars protests against Police brutality in Nigeria, exchanged gunfire with security operatives at the Oko Maximum prison, who attempted to thwart the jailbreak.
The state government also announced a 24-hour curfew throughout the state, commencing on Monday, October 19th.
Other reports from Edo State indicate there was a successful jailbreak on Monday at the state Medium Security prison located on Sapele Road, with many inmates now reported to be on the loose. Three police stations located in the areas of the jailbreaks were also believed to have been burnt by the hoodlums. Some of the police stations involved include the Ugbekun and Idogbo Police Stations in Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area of the state.
The violence in Edo state in the wake of the raging #EndSARS protests across many cities in Nigeria comes only hours after prominent rights activist, Segun Awosanya (aka Segalink) announced he was withdrawing his support for the raging #EndSARS protests in Nigeria. While the protests have remained largely peaceful since they erupted a week ago and drew worldwide support from Nigerian and international celebrities such as musicians Davido, Tiwa Savage, WizKid, Rihanna, 50 Cent and others, emerging reports indicate the protests have also been hijacked by persons intent on unleashing mayhem on fellow Nigerian citizens under the guise of the popular #EndSARS protests.
In announcing that he was withdrawing his support for the protests, Awosanya, who is believed to be one of the “brains” behind the ongoing protests against Police brutality in Nigeria, said the current campaign has “been hijacked for other means”.
The ongoing #EndSARS protests in Nigeria, which center on the need for an end to police brutality, extrajudicial killings and scrapping of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) – a unit of the police force notorious for human rights abuse, have continued for more than 12 days.
Nigeria’s Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, had on heels of the protests pronounced the disbandment of SARS formations across the country; he also announced a new tactical unit named the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT), to rebuild the scrapped arm of the force.
Upset by the move, more Nigerians trooped to the streets, calling for the rejection of the new unit. Those agitations have led to the emergence of a new #EndSWAT hashtag on the social media platform, Twitter, with the protesters expressing the belief that the newly-created arm of the police would be no different from the disbanded SARS.
They complain that the opening of SWAT is ill-timed and does not align with their demands for a reformation of the country’s policing system.
Also in the same vein, a political activist and former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Timi Frank, has warned against the use of force against protesters across the country.
Frank, in a statement at the weekend, warned that the alleged plan by the Federal government in Nigeria to deploy soldiers on to the streets to forcefully end the #EndSARS protesters should be aborted.
Saying there is credible information on plans by government to deploy the military to stop the protest, Frank alleged that the plan was conceived during a “secret” meeting between the Presidency and leaders of the various arms of the military.
He further advised that the government should not use the Nigerian military against peaceful protesters exercising their democratic rights to peacefully demonstrate and calling attention to the grave socio-economic ills in the country.
Frank, in his statement, also reminded the government that if military force did not work in Sudan, Burkina Faso and Mali, it will not work in Nigeria as well. He also urged the #EndSARS protesters to remain “vigilant”.