The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu has on Friday vowed not to allow violent protests to be carried out in the country, noting that the Nigerian Police are combat-ready for any attempt in the breakdown of law and order. Adamu made this known during a meeting with command commissioners of police in Abuja, saying masterminds of the violence during the #EndSARS protest in Edo state including inmates that escaped from the Edo Correctional Centre have been arrested.
He added that inmates who escaped have also been arrested in Kaduna and Kano States.
"We will never allow this type of #EndSARS protests again, it was violent. Peaceful protest is allowed in our constitution. When these rallies started peacefully, we provided security for them.
"We were moving with them to make sure they were not molested by any group of people and it was going on well until it turned violent.
"When it turned violent, they then attacked the people that were even giving them protection. So, we shall never allow any violent protest in this country again. When you talk of peaceful protests, yes, it is allowed but violent protests, never."
Speaking further, the IGP explained that the police is working on arresting other inmates at large including cultists.
"We have made a lot of arrests of those people that escaped from prisons. Some were even arrested in Kano and Kaduna. When they escaped, some of them went back to their business of robbery.
"And the cultists, when they escaped, they went back to the business of cultism, especially in Edo. We’ve been able to arrest a significant number of them and we are still after those that are outside. We call on Nigerians, any information you have about an escapee from any of the correctional centres, please inform us or any other security agencies, so that we can get them back to prison," the IGP said.