Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, on Tuesday, ordered the closure of all schools in the state, till the end of the week.
As contained in a statewide broadcast, Makinde said the directive stemmed from the fact that thugs and hoodlums had taken advantage of #EndSARS protests to perpetrate uncivil acts and harass citizens who are going about their day-to-day activities.
In the meantime, Makinde said members of the state Joint Security Task Force, known as Operation Burst, had been deployed to various hotspots in Ibadan to arrest the situation and restore normalcy.
Makinde, in the broadcast, stated that the calmness of the situation or otherwise by this weekend will determine whether the closure will continue next week or not.
Though he restated his support for peaceful protests, he decried that the protests had assumed a threatening dimension in the past two days.
He bemoaned situations of thugs forcing people to close shops, harassing citizens, obstructing movement as being perpetrated by criminal elements.
Makinde also expressed commitment to meeting the demands of the #EndSARS protests, as evidenced by his effecting the release of arrested protesters in Ogbomoso and setting up of platforms for people to report police violations.
In the meantime, Makinde said members of the state Joint Security Task Force, known as Operation Burst, had been deployed to various hotspots in Ibadan to arrest the situation and restore normalcy.
He, however, noted that the Operation Burst team were tasked to protect genuine protesters and their right to protest.
He particularly charged members of the Nigeria Police Force to remain professional in the discharge of their duties.
Makinde said, “I have directed that all schools in Ibadan, should be closed from tomorrow, Wednesday, October 21 2020 for the rest of this week. The situation will be reviewed on Friday, October 23, 2020, and then further directives will be given.
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“Please call 615 should anyone attempt to disrupt your legitimate business activities.
“We will continue to seek ways to engage with peaceful protesters.
“Our plan is that in the shortest possible time, we can finally say the days of large-scale and wanton police brutality and injustice is a thing of the past.”
Meanwhile, the plenary of the state House of Assembly scheduled for Tuesday was aborted.
A message sent to Assembly correspondents on Monday evening stated that plenary was postponed till further notice.
Chairman, House Committee on Information, Honourable Kazeem Olayanju confirmed to Nigerian Tribune that the plenary was postponed till further notice as a result of the tense situation in the state stemming from #EndSARS protests.
He added that members had to shelve the plenary because the trend of the protests in the state had become unpredictable.
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