While the announcement of the arrest of Nigerian protesters, especially those in Lagos was made by the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu, via a statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, the arrest in South Africa was made public by that country’s President, Cyril Ramaphosa.
Mohammed Adamu said that those arrested were those who took part in attacking and looting Shoprite outlets in Lekki Area of Lagos Sate yesterday, September 3, adding that a good number of looted valuables have been recovered from them.
The IGP announced that three police officers were seriously injured and a Police operational vehicle set ablaze in the incidence.
He warned that while the police recognized the rights of citizens to air their views on salient national issues as enshrined in the statutes, “the Force reiterates that these must be done within the confines of the law. Miscreants and criminally-minded people who masquerade as genuine protesters are therefore warned to stay-off.”
He stressed that the Force will not hesitate to bring to bear the full weight of the law on any such law breaker even as called on the parents and guardians to prevail on their children and wards to desist from acts capable of causing breakdown of law and order in the country.
Meanwhile, the Force has commenced investigations and profiling of the arrested suspects with a view to establishing their connection with the stealing, malicious damage, arson and disturbance of public peace on the day of the incident.
The police boss ordered water-tight security around embassies, foreign missions, foreigners and their businesses within the country, reassuring law-abiding citizens, embassies, foreign missions, foreigners and their businesses within the country of their security and safety.
This was even as the South African President told officials and business leaders that he was committed to quelling attacks on foreigners that have threatened to cast a cloud over an economic forum aimed at boosting intra-African trade.
The South African Police had earlier confirmed that at least five deaths were recorded after riots in Johannesburg and the capital Pretoria.
Police spokesman for Gauteng province, Colonel Lungelo Dlamini, said that they were “experiencing a dramatic decline in public violence and looting” as the number people arrested on suspicion of involvement in the attacks on foreigners had increased to 289 since Sunday.
“Taking action against people from other nations is not justified and should never be allowed in our beautiful country … We need to quell those incidents of unrest,” Ramaphosa told an event on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Africa three-day summit starting on Wednesday.
Hundreds of mainly female students protesting about violence against women tried to storm the conference center in Cape Town where the WEF conference was being held, but they were restrained by police who later used stun grenades against demonstrators.
“Women get raped in this country every single day and nothing is happening. The president is sitting there inside having a fancy lunch with all these people trying to sell our country to the world, (while) there is no peace and no justice,” said a student protester from the University of Cape Town, who declined to be identified.
