Presidential candidate of the Peoples Trust in the 2019 election, Mr. Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim on Thursday, made a case for an efficient police service run by well-trained officers and women.
He said such officers must be motivated, and well paid consistent with acceptable standard operating procedures and made accountable to the protection of citizens fundamental human rights.
Olawepo-Hashim, who was a civil rights leader, and a 1989 Amnesty International Prisoner of Conscience stressed in a reaction to the ongoing #EndSARS protest across Nigeria. He said “I condemn the excessive use of force to handle what is otherwise a peaceful protest and commend the protesters for breaking a two-and-a-half-decade long silence in the face of myriad injustices in the land”.
Olawepo-Hashim also acknowledged the response of the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, to end SARS and ensure the redeployment of men of that dreaded unit but insisted that something more comprehensive was urgently needed.
