Police denies firing live ammunition at #FreeNnamdiKanu protesters

The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has denied claims that its officers fired live ammunition during Monday’s #FreeNnamdiKanu demonstration in Abuja.

Benjamin Hundeyin, the force’s public relations officer, made the clarification during an interview on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme.

“I can say it authoritatively that no live ammunition was fired today. Not a single live ammunition,” Hundeyin said.

He explained that it is easy for people unfamiliar with the sound to mistake teargas for live bullets. “It makes the same popping, explosion-like sound. I can say it on good authority that no live ammunition was shot.”

According to Hundeyin, police only used teargas to disperse protesters who attempted to breach areas restricted by a court order.

“We made it clear that we were going to enforce this court order. We gave enough warning to these people to step back and not go beyond where they were, but they were adamant and they were approaching these areas,” he said.

He added that the officers acted in line with established procedures to ensure public safety. “We just conformed to standard operating procedures and we decided to use minimal force — force that is commensurate with the resistance we were getting,” Hundeyin said.

On Monday, police deployed teargas in the Central Business District of Abuja as activists assembled to commence the protest. Some commuters, waiting for vehicles to take them to work, were caught in the teargas.

Eight protesters were reportedly arrested in the nation’s capital on the first day of the marches.

The protest is being led by Omoyele Sowore, publisher of Sahara Reporters and a former presidential candidate.

Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has been in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) since his re-arrest in June 2021. The IPOB leader is currently on trial at the Federal High Court in Abuja.