NIGERIA: POLICE NOT PREPARED FOR OCTOBER 9 STRIKE

C O N F I D E N T I A L LAGOS 002080 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/08/2013 TAGS: ASEC ELAB ENRG EPET KDEM PGOV NI SUBJECT: NIGERIA: POLICE NOT PREPARED FOR OCTOBER 9 STRIKE REF: A) LAGOS 02058 B) LAGOS 02043 Classified By: Consul General Robyn Hinson-Jones for reasons 1.5 (B) an d (D). ¶1. (C) Haruna John (PROTECT),Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) resident in Lagos State gave Pol/Econ Officer an update on police preparedness for the planned nationwide strike on October 9. According to John, the police force is not/not prepared to deal with potential problems that a strike may cause due to the GON's failure to supply funds for purchase of police vehicles, fuel and other needed equipment. It is his unhappy impression that the federal government is more than negligent and is actually "unwilling" to support the police. ¶2. (C) John complained that the GON had not given the police advance notice of its intention to raise fuel prices October 1 to allow the police to prepare for possible demonstrations or violence. The police have taken what steps they could, under the circumstances, and placed 17,000-18,000 police on standby; however, John pointed out that the force will be short of fuel for the few vehicles it has. He added that in past emergencies his officers had to ask friends and family to pay for or supply fuel for the cars used for mobile patrols. He also said the force has no tear gas for crowd control. ¶3. (C) The DPC further said that the Oodu'a Peoples Congress (OPC),a Yoruba vigilante organization, has publicly stated its intention to involve itself in the strike. He sees the OPC as an "ethnic militia" that is better equipped than the police and could thus possibly thwart any police action. He added that OPC members are rumored to have links with high-level Lagos-based political operatives and will provoke violence on order from these operatives. If the OPC involves itself in the strike, John believes there will be more trouble this time than during the strike last June when eight people where killed. John said the police had received much bad publicity following the June strike. But despite investigations by both the Senate and House of Representatives, it has not yet been determined if the police was at fault in any of the deaths. John said this time around the police may not be as willing to defuse angry crowds of protesters or demonstrators as they were in June. Concluding that he and other officials have decided not to take risks if a strike occurs, he said, "our hands are tied." HINSON-JONES