Police Spokesperson, Frank Mba has defended the use of tear gas on some June 12 protesters in Abuja.
While a Channels Television correspondent who covered the protest in Abuja insisted that he did not observe any sign of violence from the protesters before the police disrupted their parade, Mba in an interview on the same news platform said the use of teargas was an isolated case in Abuja where protesters turned violent.
He also said that no Nigerian in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano, or anywhere is currently in detention due to the isolated incident.
The police spokesperson said “We had an isolated case in Abuja where some of the protesters became unruly and in line with international best practices, police fired teargas at them. And that is an acceptable mode of engaging violent protesters anywhere globally, whether in Abuja, Lagos, Paris, London, or New York or California. That is internationally accepted. We would have problems if we had fired live bullets at them, but when you fire teargas at protesters to disperse them, you are not in breach of any known code, either nationally or internationally. I also want to use this opportunity to clearly state that no citizen, either in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano or anywhere, is currently in detention due to this isolated incident. As long as protesters conduct themselves within the confines of the law; they do not constitute themselves into a nuisance, they do not breach the rights of other citizens, they do not obstruct traffic, they do not compel other citizens to join their protests, the police will largely work with them. When you protest in contravention of this set of conditions I have given, clearly you are coming in direct conflict with the laws of the land, and the police will never stand by idly and watch you create problems for the entire polity.”