The Senate has advised the Federal Government to evolve and implement holistic reforms in the Nigerian Police Force.
It believes employing more able-bodied personnel, injecting more financial resources for the purpose of procuring arms, ammunition, and other policing gadgets, as well undertaking regular training will ensure efficient policing in the country.
This formed part of the recommendations contained in the 69-page report of the Joint Committee on National Security and Intelligence; Defence; Police Affairs; Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters on the mayhem visited on the ancient city of Calabar during the #EndSARS protests on October 23 and 24, 2020.
In his presentation, Chairman of the Joint Committee, Senator Ibrahim Gobir, said that investigative hearings by the lawmakers revealed that the violence in Calabar metropolis during the protests, which led to the looting and destruction of private and government-owned properties, was “largely spontaneous with no identified goals, leaders, sponsors or financiers”.
“It was a free reign for amorphous groups, gangs, and criminals,” Senator Gobir was quoted as saying in a statement by Senate President Ahmad Lawan’s media aide, Ezrel Tabiowo.
He disclosed that one of the victims of the protest, Senator Bassey Henshaw, who appeared before the committee, narrated his ordeal, saying it took a miracle to get him, his wife, and daughter out from the mob which vandalised its way right into his bedroom.