Acting
President, Yemi Osinbajo, has ordered the Inspector-General of Police (IGP),
Ibrahim Idris, to "overhaul the management and activities" of
notorious Police unit, the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).
Since last
year, numerous Nigerians have taken to social media to accuse officers of the
unit of several misconducts ranging from harassment, extortion, assault to
extra-judicial killings. This has led to relentless calls for the unit to be
completely scrapped to ease the fears of Nigerians who live in dread of the
unit.
In a
statement issued by Osinbajo's spokesperson, Laolu Akande, the Acting President
ordered the IGP to shut down the unit "with immediate effect".
The
statement read, "Following persistent complaints and reports on the
activities of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) that border on allegations
of human rights violations, His Excellency, Professor Yemi Osinbajo SAN,
Acting-President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, has directed the Inspector
General of Police to, with immediate effect, overhaul the management and
activities of SARS and ensure that any unit that will emerge from the process,
will be intelligence-driven and restricted to the prevention and detection of
armed robbery and kidnapping, and apprehension of offenders linked to the
stated offences, and nothing more.
"The
Acting President has also directed the IGP to ensure that all operatives in the
emerging unit conduct their operations in strict adherence to the rule of law
and with due regard to International Humanitarian Law and the constitutionally
guaranteed rights of suspects. The operatives should also bear proper
identification any time they are on duty.
"In the
meantime, the Acting President has directed the National Human Rights
Commission to set up a Committee that will conduct nation-wide investigation of
the alleged unlawful activities of SARS in order to afford members of the
general public the opportunity to present their grievances with a view to
ensuring redress."
While
speaking at a town hall meeting at the launch of National Micro, Small and
Medium Enterprises, MSMEs, Clinics in Ibadan, Oyo State on June 26, 2018,
Osinbajo had disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari was concerned with the
operations of SARS and had already ordered a review of the unit.
The vice
president further said the unit cannot be scrapped but be rehabilitated to curb
the atrocities of the bad eggs.
When the
earlier calls for the scrapping of the unit grew in December 2017, IGP Idris
ordered the reorganisation of SARS' operational roles and activities.
Under the
reviewed arrangement, state Commissioners of Police were installed as overall
heads of the Federal Anti-Robbery Squad nationwide.
The IGP also
ordered for all SARS personnel nationwide to undergo a new training program to
be organized in collaboration with some civil society organisations, local and
international NGOs, and other human rights organisations.
Despite the
reorganisation, the calls to scrap the unit resurfaced again this year with the
unit still operating with impunity that mostly targeted Nigerian youths.
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