The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, has insisted that operatives of the Nigeria Police Force were civil in their handling of #EndBadGivernance protesters.

Mr Egbetokun stated this in an address to journalists after the end of Thursday’s nationwide protests, which turned out violent in some states.

“The police appeared overwhelmed, we were not overwhelmed, we have our standby units everywhere. We prepared for this, we were only civil. The fact that we were civil does not mean that we were weak. We were only civil because we were expecting them to be peaceful.”

The police boss made the claim despite no fewer than eleven people being killed after operatives deployed lethal force to quell a series of demonstrations that broke out across the country.

Witnesses in Kano said the police were responsible for three deaths in the northern commercial centre, an allegation which the police denied, telling Peoples Gazette that violent elements disrupted the protest and used the moment to loot stores and fatally stab other protesters.

According to the Daily Trust, security operatives who felt threatened after being outnumbered by protesters opened fire in order to disperse the crowd in Suleja, killing six and wounding some others. The protesters had barricaded a section of the Abuja-Kaduna highway.

Residents in Borno said at least two people were killed during today’s protests in Maiduguri, the state capital. The police did not immediately return The Gazette’s request for comment about the violence.