#FearlessInOctober Protests: Police Denies Attacking Abuja Protesters

The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has denied that its officers attacked some protesters participating in the Tuesday Independence day #FearlessInOctober protests at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

The Police Public Relations Officer, FCT command, Josephine Adeh, made this disclaimer in a statement issued on Tuesday.

Recall that the scheduled protest was aimed at agitating against economic hardship and worsening poverty in the country.

The Force has now stated that their intervention was merely to block against wathom looting of shops in the territory.

“The FCT police command is aware of the reports making the rounds that policemen attacked protesters at Utako Market in Abuja earlier today, 1st October, 2024,” Adeh began.

“The command wishes to categorically debunk the narrative, tagging it completely false and misleading. Acting on intelligence, the operatives only took measures to forestall some miscreants who were taking advantage of the protest to loot shops in the market and as a result, extended focus to them.

“As a responsible agency, we could not stand by and allow traders to be robbed of their hard-earned money and belongings without intervening.

“We therefore urge the populace to disregard such misleading and mischievous information, as the command is committed to ensuring the safety of the populace in the exercise of their civil rights,” she stated.

Neusroom had, earlier, gathered that some protesters were attacked by men of the Nigeria Police.

Reports indicate that, while the protesters were peacefully demonstrating, Policemen fired teargas canisters and live ammunition at them.

The protesters immediately ran for cover under the heavy bombardments from the Police.

Some of the complains of the protesters include the surge in inflation, high cost of fuel, economic hardship and the bad policies being implemented by President Bola Tinubu.