As the controversy rages over the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), the Police authorities in Nigeria have indicated that the unit may not be scrapped, after all.
Nigerians from all walks of have risen in their demand for the scrapping of the unit, which was originally created to fight the rising menace of armed robbery in the country, but has been turned against innocent young men and women, many of whom have lost their lives.
The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, on Sunday announced a ban on the unit from carrying out stop-and-search operations, as well as mounting road checkpoints, as these activities have become avenues of torture and extortion by the unit across the country.
Frank Mba, a Deputy Commissioner of Police and Force Public Relations Officer, said on Tuesday that SARS could not be scrapped because it still needed to combat armed robbery and other violent crimes across the country.
Mba gave reasons for retaining the SARS a live Instagram chat with popular Nigerian musician, Azeez Fashola, also known as Naira Marley.
Naira Marley had threatened to call out his followers on a protest against SARS.
On his part, Mba assured Nigerians that Police authorities would put some mechanisms in place to monitor the activities of officers and men of the unit.
Mba advised Nigerians on what to do, saying: “But if a policeman is doing something wrong, you can take pictures and record videos and send them to us. But make sure you do so safely.
“If you feel in your interactions with the police that they are beginning to cross the line, you can take pictures and videos as long as it is safe for you to do so. When you send them to us, we will definitely follow up the matter and see it to a logical conclusion.”
Naira Marley said he postponed his planned protest by one week, giving the Police authorities time to come up with their plans on how to handle the SARS imbroglio.
