15 people have been detained by the Delta State Police Command in relation to the demonstration that descended into mayhem at the Otovwodo crossroads in Ughelli on Tuesday.
Police had earlier refuted claims that three people were thought dead amid the chaos, claiming that only one person died and two people were hurt.
About 12 trucks carrying fuel and granite are also said to have been set ablaze amid the chaos.
To prevent the raging teenagers from demanding an end to an alleged indiscriminate arrest of adolescents suspected of engaging in internet fraud, a dusk to dawn curfew has also been implemented.
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Just In: Many shots as security operatives allegedly open fire on #EndEFCC protesters in Delta (UPDATE)
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Delta youths protest against EFCC, affirm unlawful captures(VIDEO FOOTAGE)
Recall that on September 29, 2022, agents of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission conducted a sting operation in Warri and the surrounding area, where they detained 95 alleged internet fraudsters (EFCC).
Youths thought to be involved in internet frauds and sympathetic to the suspects, alarmed by the large number of arrests, occupied the Effurun Roundabout in Uvwie and the Otovwodo intersection in Ughelli, singing war songs and obstructing traffic.
Their colleagues, they maintained, had not taken from the government coffers but rather foreigners, therefore they armed themselves with signs rejecting and criticizing the continued incarceration of their colleagues.
Meanwhile, the youth wing of the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU), led by Comrade Efemena Umukoro, has denounced the ‘EFCC-must-go’ demonstrations that erupted in the city on tuesday.
It has come to our attention that the #EndEFCC demonstration in Ughelli has taken on a different tone, according to a statement bearing Umukoro’s signature.
“It is terrible that the protest’s purpose and priority have been lost on our people.
“Civil disobedience and protest are essential rights of every person, but there are dos and don’ts to follow.
“We hereby condemn the burning of buildings, assaults and retaliations against Police officers and vehicles.”
It is unacceptable and brutal, the statement continued.
Umukoro continued, “We’ve also considered that some of our colleagues are seriously hurt as a result of the incident. That this is taking place.
As we will take any material already acquired as supposition until we hear from our folks, “We shall have an on-the-spot assessment of the entire occurrence and receive the true photographs of it all.”
Additionally, the young organization advised everyone to remain calm and uphold the law, declaring that “peace is priceless.”
The Delta State Police Command’s Commissioner of Police, CP Ari Muhammed Ali, is currently inspecting the scene of the Tuesday incident’s devastation at Ughelli as of the time this news was filed.
