The Edo State Governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki has come out to beg the state’s police command to not be dampened by the latest bad incidents that trailed the #EndSARS protests in Nigeria.

He recently revealed that it is up to the policemen to draw lessons from the violence and rebuild trust with members of the public.

According to him, his government will keep supporting the security operatives in the discharge of their duties of protecting the lives and property of citizens.

He added that the legitimate #EndSARS protesters he asked members of the force to protect were not the ones who attacked the police stations, as hoodlums clearly took over the peaceful protests.

His words, “The state government will proceed immediately to rebuild all the destroyed buildings; we have already ordered for patrol vehicles and we hope the delivery will be in the next few weeks. They will be delivered to you.

“We will be responsible for the hospital bills of every policeman or woman who has been hurt as a result of the incident of the last few weeks. Above all, we will make sure we give the necessary assistance which we can, within the limits of resources available to us.

“The legitimate #EndSARS protesters which I asked you to give protection are not the ones who attacked the police stations, the Oko prison and the Sapele Road prison. They were not the ones that attacked police and their property.”

“The people who did that were criminals and they should be treated as such. I am here today to assure you of our support; criminals cannot take over our state, under whatever guise. They should not intimidate you; they should not allow your morale to be low.

“I want to assure you that the Edo State government will work with you very diligently to re-arrest every inmate that escaped from the correctional facility.”

“Key members of my team and I have called you here today to thank you for your support and the work of policing the state. We thank you for the sacrifices and assure you of our support. We call on you not to be depressed, downcast as you have a duty to God and Nigerians. What happened over the last few weeks are lessons to us as it’s not business as usual but rather a charge to work together to build trust.

“The underlining word should be trust. The young men and women should trust that you will be there for them and that you will protect them even when some of them are criminals. They will be treated fairly according to the policing code which doesn’t tolerate most of the atrocities that some of your men have committed.

“I assure you that the government of Edo State supports the police. We appreciate those of you working hard and putting your life on the line of service. We can’t pay you enough but we know we should pay you your dues, not in cash but in love, respect and support.”

“I am here to meet with you and assure you that Nigerians still believe in you as no institution is perfect as we need to change and reform many things.”