The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has denied attacking the October 1 protesters in Abuja.
The rebuttal was conveyed through a statement by the spokesperson of the FCT Police Command, SP Josephine Adeh, in Abuja.
Adeh said the operatives only took proactive measures to prevent looting, adding it was necessary to address the allegation following reports that policemen attacked protesters at Utako Market in Abuja earlier on Tuesday during the protest.
She urged Nigerians to disregard the “misleading and mischievous information”, stressing that the command is committed to ensuring the safety of the citizens in the exercise of their civil rights.
Earlier reports claimed that the police operatives fired teargas at protesters in Abuja, during the #FearlessInOctober protest over bad governance.
“The command wishes to categorically debunk the narrative, tagging it completely false and misleading.
“Acting on intelligence, the operatives only took measures to forestall miscreants who were taking advantage of the protest to loot shops in the market and as a result, extended focus to them.
“As a responsible agency, we could not stand by and allow traders to be robbed of their hard-earned money and belongings without intervening,” the statement added.