Nigerian Governor Narrates How He was Attacked by Police
- Governor Kayode Fayemi has spoken about the excesses of police operatives
- The Ekiti state governor explains why Nigerian governors have limited powers
- The issue of police brutality sparked a nationwide protest across Nigeria in 2020
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The Ekiti state governor, Kayode Fayemi, has disclosed that he was once attacked by the police despite his high office.
Fayemi made the disclosure on Wednesday, March 24, at a virtual meeting organised by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies to discuss the issue of insecurity in Nigeria, The Cable reported.
Source: Twitter
Although he did not go into details on when the police attack on him occurred, he dismissed the notion that Nigerian governors have unlimited powers.
The Ekiti governor explained that there are issues that governors do not have control over.
According to The Punch, Fayemi pointed out that the over-centralized state system of governance was a big constrain to the powers of governors.
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He said:
“The governor may direct his police commissioner but the inspector general of police (IGP) may tell the police commissioner not to respond to that order.
“I have been governor for some time and I have been a victim of police attack even as governor. So people should not make any exaggeration about the powers of governors.”
Legit.ng recalls that the issue of police brutality has been a subject of discussion in Nigeria since the EndSARS protest which occurred in 2020.
Meanwhile, the Lagos state judicial panel hearing cases of police brutality has given a landmark judgment.
In the judgment, the panel awarded compensation to some victims of police brutality after having found their cases meritorious.
In a petition involving Mrs. Kudirat Adebayo Abayomi, who was killed by a police stray bullet in April 2017, the panel on Friday, recommended the prosecution of the erring police officers.
They also awarded the sum of N10 million as compensation to the family of the deceased, scholarship for the children, and a letter of apology to the family of the deceased from the police.
In another news, the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, has declared that President Muhammadu Buhari tolerated the excesses of #EndSARS protesters in the country.
The #EndSARS protests rocked the nation in October 2020 after young people took to the streets to protest police brutality.
The protests came to a halt after thugs infiltrated the street processions and caused havoc by burning and looting public and private buildings.
Kess Ewubare is a senior political/current affairs correspondent at Legit.ng. He has both a BSc and a Master’s degree in mass communication. He has over 10 years experience working in several fields of mass communication including radio, TV, newspaper, and online. He can be reached via email at kess2099@gmail.com.
Source: Legit.ng
