By Vera Chinonso Aliyu and Ada Obeleagu, YeyeNews.com, December 19, 2021
A police sergeant Akpan Odufia has expressed appreciation to the EndSARS protesters for their role in achieving the increase in salary of police officers. He made the remark in a Twitter post on Friday. “Government just announced a 20% increase in salaries of police officers. We appreciate the EndSARS protesters for this great accomplishment. If not for them, no one would have remembered our plight. Big ups to all of them. But we are still standing ready to teargas them whenever they come out to the street to protest against the government. No ill feelings. We just have to do our jobs”, Sgt. Udofia wrote.
The comments of the police sergeant has drawn sharp reactions from Nigerians across different social media platforms. A Twitter user reminded the police sergeant that the 20% increase in salary does not amount to much, considering the high rate of inflation in the country. ”The police are threatening EndSARS protesters after the efforts of the protesters has won them an increase in their salary after decades of stagnancy. They should remember that the high inflation rate could wipe out the 20% increase before it is even implemented. And everything will return to square one. So I advise the police to use their energy to pressure the politicians to make their living conditions truly worthwhile”, the Twitter user wrote.
Another user advised the police to see Nigerian youths as partners in progress. The Twitter user wrote that “the police should not consider Nigerian youths as their enemies. We are partners in progress. When we protest against police brutality, we are only asking that the police should be humanized. And humanizing the police involves improving their welfare. That is something the politicians will never do unless they are forced to. The police should know who their true enemies are and adequately train their teargas at them rather than threatening the EndSARS protesters”.
