Police oppose planned protest by NBA

The Lagos State Police Command has expressed its opposition to the planned protest by the Ikeja, Lagos State branch of the Nigerian Bar Association.
The position of the police was contained in a statement on Tuesday.
The statement, signed by the spokesman of the Command, SP Chike Oti, reads: “The Lagos State Police Command hereby advises  the Ikeja branch of the Nigeria Bar Association led by Mr. Adesina Ogunlana to shelve their planned protest slated for tomorrow  20th February, 2018 as all avenues to resolving their grievances have not been exploited.
“The CP is deeply worried about  the security implication of such protest at this time when the resources of the Police  command  is over stretched. Thus, it is expected that  the NBA chairman whose  office is a shouting distance away from the CP’s office, should have at least briefed him on the matter and indeed any issue  of interest to his association instead of planning a street protest for a matter that could be resolved in the CP’s office without much ado. Moreso the unit of the Police which the NBA has issues with and indeed all operational Police units  in the state are under the command of the Commissioner of Police.
“The Lagos State Police Command,  views this planned protest and the call by the NBA Chairman that all manner of people should join the protest as a call to  breach of public peace and safety and an unnecessary dissipation of valuable  energy.
“Besides these, the Command wishes to draw the attention of the organisers of the protest that intelligence report at its disposal indicates that certain elements are hell bent on truncating the peace in Lagos State and are merely waiting for triggers such as  the planned protest by the NBA to execute their intentions. The Command would like to  inform the NBA Chairman that as a stakeholder in peace affairs , security and public orderliness  in the state, he ought to partner  the police in  ensuring  public safety  and not resort to acts capable of breaching the peace enjoyed by all in the state.
“The CP wishes to assure the NBA Chairman that his complaint as seen in the newspapers  is noted and that investigation into it is in progress and at the end, a joint press conference in which the NBA Chairman would be invited would be held.”