How Police incompetence embarrassed, threatened life of President Buhari, APC leaders and delegates in Abuja

The Nigerian Police high command is yet to give reasonable explanation why President Muhammadu Buhari and Nigeria as a country were thoroughly embarrassed on Saturday at the Eagle Square Abuja, venue of the national convention of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Delegates from some states including Imo and Delta had engaged in free for all fights inside the Eagle Square a few meters away from where Buhari was giving his speech, many of them using stones, woods, chairs and tables as weapons that were thrown on opponents with many sustaining various degrees of injury.

The embarrassment caused the nation by the ugly development has raised some questions by some concerned Nigerians including why delegates to a political event many of who may be thugs could be allowed to fight few meters to the President.

The fights at the APC national convention took place in spite of the massive deployment of officers and men of the Nigerian Police and other security agencies.

It would be recalled that the Nigeria Police Force Headquarters had on Friday 22nd June, 2018, a day before the Saturday Convention, announced the deployment of 5,000 Police Officers and Men as well as two helicopters to cover the event.

The 5,000 officers were drawn from the Police Mobile Force (PMF), the Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU) and Special Protection Unit (SPU). The Police also deployed the Explosive Ordinance Department (EOD), the Police Mounted Troop, Dog Section (K9), the Force Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Department (FCIID), the Police Air-wing and the Force Armament Unit

According to Jimoh Moshood, Force spokesman, the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, had directed the implementation of the arrangement to ensure a secured and hitch-free convention, and that the police air-wing and the Force Armament Unit have been deployed under the supervision of the Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Department of Operations, to ensure adequate security for the accredited participants at the convention.

He said two police helicopters and six armoured personnel carriers were also deployed for security at the convention.

“Personnel of other security and safety agencies are also being deployed to complement the force in ensuring adequate security and a hitch-free convention,” he said, adding that only accredited delegates and party officials bearing the APC clearance/identification tags would be allowed into the venue.

“Personnel of all Security and Safety agencies deployed for the security of the convention must also wear the certified identification tag conspicuously at the venue,” he said.

Jimoh also said that only one aide would be allowed to follow their principals into the venue of the convention.

“The Nigeria police force hereby warns all unauthorised individual(s) and group(s) who have no business with the convention to steer clear of the venue.

The full weight of the law will be applied on any person or group of persons who try to disrupt the orderliness and conduct of the convention.

“The Personnel deployed are under strict instruction to be civil, polite but strict and firm in the discharge of their duties during the convention,” he said.

But in spite of the Police boast and huge deployment which caused heavy traffic inconveniences for Nigerians going about their businesses in and around Abuja that day, reports had it that many unaccredited delegates were able to find their ways into the Eagle square where the caused massive disruption of the exercise for some hours including interrupting the President’s speech with mass fights.

It is important to state that the fights at Eagle Square couldn’t have started without the occurrence of some acts during which the Police should have brought the matters to an end, therefore preventing such national shame.

Preceding the fight includes entrance of fake or unaccredited delegates, complaints, arguments, shouting matches, shoves, commotion and then actual fights. How come the Police could not bring the situations to a control before they went out of hand?

Many people have expressed concern over the possibility of stones or pebbles hitting the President while the fights lasted or political opponents capitalising on the fights to attack the president, leaders of the national assembly, governors or other leaders of the party who were at the convention.

According to Mikel Nzeribe, the there was no justification whatsoever for the massive deployment of officers and men of the Police if the Force has no capacity to prevent what happened on Saturday.

“What then is the essence of deploying 5,000 personnel to disrupt traffic if the Police cannot prevent a fight inside the venue of the convention, even right in the presence of the president?” he asked.

The situation was made worse because apart from local and foreign journalists resident in Abuja, there were more than 2,000 additional journalists from around the world that had converged on Abuja who were attending the Congress of the International Press Institute that weekend. They too must have seen the national embarrassment caused Nigeria by the convention venue fight.