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Hoodlums kill one #EndSARS protester in Edo, govt orders manhunt
BY PAUL SILAS
The Edo State Government on Friday gave security agencies 24 hours to find the hoodlums who shot at #EndSARS protesters in Benin, killing one person and injuring a number of others.
Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, gave the order while addressing protesters after the sad incident, saying the government would not fold its arms and watch harm come the way of young people exercising their rights as citizens of the country.
Just like in Lagos and Abuja, hoodlums had attacked a group of #EndSARS protesters at Ring Road, Benin on Friday afternoon.
The deputy governor, in a statement by the Special Adviser to Governor Godwin Obaseki on Media and Communication Strategy, Crusoe Osagie, on Friday, vowed that perpetrators of the act would be brought to book.
The statement titled, ‘Edo govt gives security agencies 24 hours to fish out killers of EndSARS protester in Benin’ quoted Shaibu, as saying, “I have given instructions to the security agencies to fish out those behind the attack. The police, the Department of State Security and other security agencies have been ordered to bring to book those guys that harassed you and killed that young man.
“Some of you sustained injuries, I can see them from here; they have 24 hours to bring the attackers to book.”
READ: Thugs attack #SARSMUSTEND protesters in Lagos, Abuja, destroy vehicles
Continuing, he said, “We will not fold our hands as a government and watch miscreants brutalize anyone involved in this protest. So, please maintain your calm and orderliness during the protests.
“We are with you in this struggle. President Muhammadu Buhari has also said that there is going to be a reform, but we, as a state, are going to ensure that we have a reform that is people-friendly because the police are meant to protect lives and property not to destroy them. I want to assure you that we are with you on this.”
For over a week, youths across the state who joined their counterparts from different parts of the country, have been demanding a total overhaul of the Nigeria Police Force and an end to extrajudicial killings by men of the defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad.
The protests have intensified despite the disbandment of the unit and the announcement of the Special Weapons and Tactics to replace it.