Comrade Aghedo Kehinde Stephen, one of the organizers of the Endars protest and convener of Vanguard Liberation Human Rights Activists, maintains that despite the tension, the march was peaceful because the police high command changed their strategy.
The Nigerian Labour Congress and other civil rights groups had, in separate days, taken to the streets across the country to protest against the prices of foodstuffs and the high cost of living. The movement, despite pleas from the government, turned peaceful, with no record of destruction of lives or properties.
According to Aghedo, the anger and aggressiveness of the people immediately calmed down when the current commissioner of Lagos, CP Adegoke Fayoade, amongst several other things, showed the humane side of policemen.
In a chat with the media, he spoke about what had changed since Endsar’s agitation and the state of the nation.
This Endsars connotation—what’s exactly do you mean?
Well, Endsars is a popular agitation about police brutality, police injustice, and taking law into their own hands even after the court order, so my involvement as a member of civil society will be a very lengthy story. Some of us are out of the country, while others still remain in the country. Endsars started at the doorstep of the then commissioner of police, Hakeem Odumosu, who retired as Assistant Inspector General of Police at the police command in GRA, Ikeja, Lagos, but today we all know what happened before and after the agitation. That agitation, despite how it ended, has brought about a lot of change in the police system in relation to civilians.
Can you please give us an assessment of the security situation in Lagos State?
To be fair, I am not this kind of activist who will see the truth and not be able to say it out of bitterness. I will give credit to whom honor is due: the Executive Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has done wonderfully well in terms of equipping and funding the security in the state through all the service chiefs. With the level of insurgency and insecurity nationwide today, crime in Lagos State has drastically reduced, and police have been doing their best so far. Taking the law into their own hands, injustice and harassing innocent citizens are now becoming things of the past in the state. The current commissioner of police, who just came recently, honestly deserves to become an Inspector General of Police in this country. With the recent protest that we did in Lagos State, the way he handled situations shows that he is a grassroots man to the core; he can relate to common people in society and has good interaction with the citizens. Adegoke Fayoade Mni is an exceptional police officer. I can now see why the seat was reserved even when he was at the course in NIPSS, Jos. In a nutshell, the security situation in the state is excellent; we have not heard much about kidnapping lately, and he is always on the ground to relate to the hoodlums intelligently.
What is your take on the recent NLC protest in Lagos State?
There is a lot of pressure in the country, even among us activists, and every average Nigerian wants to hear from us who call ourselves freedom fighters. They are expecting to hear our voice. The Nigeria Labour Congress came out to give a two-day warning protest, and all the security chiefs in the country are aware of what might happen in Lagos State. They all know that when Lagos sneezes, the whole of Nigeria will catch a cold. For the first time in Lagos, at least I have been into activism for two decades in the state, I saw a new sheriff in town, an intelligent police officer that came to meet us at the Labour House in Yaba. Immediately he arrived, and what we saw from him was a smile, and that gentle smile killed the anger in us. He told us, ‘I will respect what you stand for, but what I need is peace, and the country belongs to all of us’. We all know what is happening in the country now since the removal of the oil subsidy. The hunger is alarming, and the commissioner of police was able to handle the situation to the extent that he was able to provide refreshment for the protesters and onlookers. You can’t compare the current commissioner of police to other police officers; he respects people’s rights, and he has eliminated the tension and pressure that can easily generate something else.
So, what you’re saying is that the success of that protest goes to the commissioner of police. ?
After God, the credit for that protest should go to the Executive Governor of Lagos State, His Excellency, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, for creating a good working environment for the police to succeed through the provision of logistics. Also, the Inspector General of Police for setting pace and operational standards for the commissioner of police, and greatly to CP Adegoke Mustapha Fayoade mni, he didn’t dictate to us because we have the liberty to protest; he didn’t bring water cannons or teargas to chase people away. He only used his experience and expertise to handle the situation for the two-day protest, and that’s why everybody is celebrating him today, even the apex body of the Nigeria Labour Congress. I also commend the way he has been managing his men as professionals since he assumed duty. Have you heard of stray bullets?
Are you saying that if the police authority had managed the Endsars agitation well, it wouldn’t have ended up in such a bloody manner?
Yes, if the police hierarchy, from the Inspector General of Police down to the Commissioner of Police, were proactive enough, you wouldn’t hear of the bloody situation. There are a lot of intelligent gatherings. Endsars started on Twitter and tagged bad policing before people like us came out physically. I am an operational man when you are talking about activism. I don’t believe in hiding under the keyboard to express my anger or tell the government where the shoes are pitching me, so they could have managed the situations well, and that’s why we are talking about CP Adegoke Fayoade mni here and there. In the last protest, he gave us a listening ear, and we gave him three gboosa at the scene of the protest too.
