Published November 3, 2020
Adeyinka Adedipe , Benin
The Edo State Governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki, on Monday urged the state Commissioner of Police , Johnson Kokumo , to appeal to officers and men of his command to return to their duty post o secure lives and property of the citizens of the state .
The governor made the appeal during a solidarity visit to the state command headquarters in Benin after # EndSARS protest that led to the destruction of lives and property including the burning down of the police stations .
Obaseki noted that the absence of policemen on the on the roads could easily be interpreted by the hoodlums who hijacked the good intentions of the # EndSARS protests as weakness and cowardice on the part of the police .
“ Edo State government will now proceed immediately to begin to rebuild your destroyed buildings . We have already ordered some patrol vehicles and we hope it will be delivered in the next few weeks . We will be responsible for the hospital bills of every officer who have been hurt in the last few weeks ” , he said .
The governor said the inmates who escaped would certainly be rearrested , while the cases of those who stayed back would be reviewed.
Earlier , the Commissioner of Police , Johnson Babatunde Kokumo, said about 11 policemen were injured , addig that the command arrested 126 suspects , 10 of which were inmates who escaped from the correctional centres in the state .