Lawmaker Desmond Elliot supports #EndSARS protest, says police brutality beyond reforms

A member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, representing Surulere Constituency, Desmond Elliot, on Friday declared support for #ENDSARS protesters in Lagos, arguing that the brutality of Nigerian youths by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery (SARS) has beyond police reforms. He urged the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, to consider deeper measures to curb the brutality and extra-judicial killings by the operatives of SARS.

Desmond speaking to the #EndSARS Protesters at the Lagos Assembly, Ikeja, had declared: “It has gone beyond having hotlines or doing reforms. As the Deputy Speaker rightly said, we really need to look into it.

“The IG of police seriously must consider. Nigeria Police are working for the people. If the (SARS) unit is working for the people and the people are calling for it to be disbanded, then let us do what they are saying.”

The lawmaker acknowledged that though some bad eggs still exist in the society, he maintained that SARS personnel get it wrong profiling and arresting people based on appearance or dressing.

Desmond declared: “The truth is, you can’t just arrest people on the road because of the hair they wear.

“That is not to say that we do not have bad people but because of the lack of training on how to deal civilly with people, we now come to have what SARS is today.

“So, I am in alignment with the prayers of the deputy speaker and I feel that we should do that expeditiously.”

The ENDSARS Protesters sustained their agitation against police brutality and extra-judicial killings on Friday, occupying the Lagos State House of Assembly Complex. The protesters had occupied the entrance to the Lagos State House of Assembly complex on Thursday all through the night, demanding immediate disbandment of SARS operatives.