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Ekiti residents, CP deplore blockades, destruction of police post, vehicles

By Ayodele Afolabi, Ado-Ekiti
19 October 2020   |   2:56 am
Residents have groaned over the blockade of major roads in Ado-Ekiti, by the #EndSARS demonstrators, as commuters and drivers face difficulty in traversing the capital.

Residents have groaned over the blockade of major roads in Ado-Ekiti, by the #EndSARS demonstrators, as commuters and drivers face difficulty in traversing the capital.

Key highways like the Fajuyi junction that links the Government House and other public agencies, as well as Ojumose and Adebayo areas that connect the northern and central senatorial districts of the state had been blocked.

Some residents, who spoke to The Guardian, decried the conduct of the campaigners.

They said though the reason for the marches was laudable, the approach, the residents added, was creating hardship for the people, warning that the protesters might lose public sympathy and goodwill.

A transporter, Ojo Olanrewaju, submitted: “We drivers are at the receiving end of the protests. We are unable to drive through the major roads of Ado Ekiti.”

Another resident and a trader, Mrs. Olaseni Funmilayo, said: “At the beginning, we were sympathetic with our youths and supported their cause, but it appears that the protests have been hijacked by hoodlums.”

HOWEVER, CP Babatunde Mobayo has condemned the destruction, at the weekend, of a police station, including its vehicles and other properties by those he called “hoodlums.”

Warning that the force would tolerate primitive acts, the police chief reminded the activists that the rights of the people could not be trampled upon under any guise.

Mobayo said the attack on the police post at Ikere Ekiti was not only condemnable, but also barbaric. He insisted that whether the perpetrators were #EndSARS protesters, hijackers or hoodlums, violent protest would not be tolerated in Ekiti, “because it infringes on the rights of the citizens.”

Describing the action as an onslaught on the police, the CP restated that no property belonging to individual, corporate body or government should be attacked during any protest perceived to be peaceful, legal and masses-oriented.

In a statement yesterday by the command’s spokesman, ASP Sunday Abutu, the police commissioner advised parents, guardians and all stakeholders to caution their wards against engaging in activities that could aggravate the security situation on ground.

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