Fidelis Ilechukwu, Coach of Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) side Heartland FC has echoed his voice in the campaign against Police Brutality that is trending like wildfire on social media #EndSARS.
Ilechukwu who regrets the issue, as quite a number of innocent youths have been harassed or had their lives cut short in their prime by some unscrupulous operatives of the Special Anti Robbery Squad for no moral justification, says it was time for the government to listen to affected and massively reform the Nigeria Police.
In 2019 Enyimba forward Stephen Chukwude has found himself in another controversy, a few weeks after he was suspended by his club for ‘gross misconduct.
Chukwude was spotted in a viral video where he was being harassed by a policeman in Enugu because he owns a Mercedes Benz.
In February 2020, an officer of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad in Ogun State caused the death of a Remo Stars Football Club player, Tiyamu Kazeem, (popularly known as Kaka) after allegedly pushing him from their van onto an oncoming speeding car on Sagamu-Abeokuta Expressway.
The club stated that some SARS men flagged down the footballer and labelled him an Internet fraudster otherwise known as Yahoo boy and insisted on taking him to a nearby police station.
Ilechukwu who was guest on Nigeria Sports Express, a live Sports Programme on Jordan 105.5 FM, Lagos, said: “These menace has to stop as their activities have lead to many lives lost. Innocent youths or football players are scared of them because when you drive a good car, wear good cloths, use expensive gadgets or have a dreadlocks you became a prey to them.
“Their modus operandi is quite scary as sometimes you can’t differentiate some of them from armed robbers in their dressing. They must stick to their primary function and not to harass innocent youths.
“I have fallen a victim to their harassment once and that’s why I try to keep it very simple going out as they can mistake one to be a criminal. They believe is one who works legally can’t have a good life or maybe they want people to now look dirty as pigs.
“I have got my #EndSARS banner ready, I’ll display it on my car once am driving on the streets and my friends and I will also create more awareness on this issue.”
