Igbos for a Progressive Nigeria (IPAN), a non-political organisation,has condemned the gruesome killing of police officers across in the country, saying the act was barbaric and inhuman.
The group staged a peaceful protest across the streets of Awka in Anambra to the police headquarters,where they expressed the need to preserve the lives of Nigerian police instead of wasting same unduly to violence
Mr. Lawrence Onuzuluike,President of Igbos for a Progressive Nigeria, who also led the protest ,said the police are Nigerians whose fundamental human rights to life must be respected like other professionals.
According to him,the ceaseless violence in Anambra and other parts of the country which claim lives of Nigerian police must stop in the interest of peace.
He added: ” Enough is enough! From today onwards Igbos are standing with the police. No more killings. If you are aggrieved or angry, there are better ways to show your grievances. Killing is not the right way. We have been keeping quiet for too long. We will no longer condone incessant killing of policemen.
” No more killing of our police officers. No more destruction of police formations. We want peace in southeast. We want peace in Nigeria. We are tired of hiding in our homes. We don’t know where they will throw bomb. This is not our culture. This is not what Ndigbo represent. Killing of policemen is unacceptable to us.
” It is very wrong to kill police officers. It is very wrong to attack police officers. It is very wrong to burn police stations . It is very wrong to scare them of the roads. I lost my car, the police men found it and brought it back to me. Killing is not in the Igbo tradition because we have respect for human life.
” Police have been our friends from time immemorial. Those people killing police officers, when they have problems they still called the police. So don’t come in front and run to the police when you have problems and after you go behind to kill them. Nobody says there are no bad eggs but all of them can not be bad at the same time.”
He lamented that the police have let guard giving room for cultists and armed-robbers to go berserk,dispossessing members of the public of their belongings in broad daylight across the country,
He said, ” It is against this backdrop that members of IPAN decided to rise against the deteriorating security situation and also against the barbaric attacks on policemen, military and paramilitary personnel .These police officers being killed are fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, uncles, aunts and relatives of our people. They have families. They are breadwinners. We therefore plead with them not to be demoralized or abandon the people they are here to protect.”
Responding on behalf of the Anambra state police commissioner, CP Chris Owolabi, the Police Public Relations Officer of the command, DSP Ikenga Tochukwu,commended the protesters for the act,saying it was timely and would go a long way in changing the narrative against Nigerian police.
He said that the people that were being killed were not just police men but fathers, uncles, brothers and relatives of people in the country.
He expressed that the police would not discouraged from carrying out their duties to the citizens of the country.
