The National Chairman of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, has criticised the police over their handling of a remembrance protest marking the sixth anniversary of the #EndSARS demonstrations.
Baba-Ahmed described the police response as provocative, questioning the decision to deploy tear gas against young people gathered to commemorate the 2020 protests.
He made the remarks during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Tuesday.
According to him, the police should have exercised restraint and relied on intelligence, established rules of engagement and a proper understanding of the purpose of the gathering.
“You can’t simply wake up and say if a group of 200 young people are assembling, there must be a reaction ten times that force,” he said.
The PRP chairman argued that peaceful assemblies should not automatically be treated as security threats, stressing that the police had a responsibility to protect citizens’ rights while maintaining law and order.
He questioned why officers would use tear gas against demonstrators who were reportedly holding flowers during the remembrance activity.
“I don’t know at what level they gave the order to tear gas a bunch of young people who are holding flowers in their hands. How does that represent a threat?” Baba-Ahmed asked.
He also faulted the government for failing to respond appropriately to the grievances that led to the #EndSARS protests in October 2020.
According to him, the protests exposed deep-rooted problems within the country’s policing system and highlighted the need for institutional reform.
Baba-Ahmed said the government could have used the anniversary to acknowledge past events and reassure Nigerians of its commitment to reforming the police.
“An intelligent government would actually send a minister or some profile, some very high up person to say we’ve learned our lesson from the #EndSARS protest,” he said.
He added that effective policing required accountable leadership, better training and a system that held officers responsible for abuses.
The PRP chairman maintained that citizens should be allowed to express their grievances peacefully, noting that the right to assemble and speak freely was fundamental to democratic governance.
He urged the government to bridge the gap between leaders and the people by respecting the law and responding to public concerns.