Youths demanding the end of the controversial Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS hit the streets of Lagos Wednesday, a day after Police authorities said the unit would not be scrapped
The #ENDSARS protesters said the protests would run for three days in various parts of Nigeria’s commercial centre, which has also witnessed a lot of the brutalities of the SARS teams.
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.
The #ENDSARS protesters demanded a “total disbandment” of SARS, in a petition they addressed to the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu.
Their letter, dated October 7 with the caption, ‘Petition against the activities of SARS’, was also copied Hakeem Odumosu.Lagos Commissioner of Police.
Their complaints include:
“In spite of several reforms announced by the Inspector General of Police, cases of abuse of citizens by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad have increased without any steps taken by the high command of the Nigeria Police Force to address the fundamental problem of impunity of operatives of SARS.
“While we continue to witness the unpleasant consequences of the crime-fighting strategy of the force that promotes extra-judicial and extralegal measures, extortion for self-enrichment and lawlessness, the non-adherence to the prescription of the law poses greater consequences for ordinary citizens who are the victims of the brutality of SARS Squad.
“We hereby demand total disbandment of SARS and the identification of cases of extrajudicial execution, torture, and ill-treatment that have caused death or severe injury to be subjected to independent, prompt, impartial, and thorough investigation, and officers reasonably suspected of criminal responsibility be brought to justice.
“This must include superior officers who knew or should have known of officials under their command resorting to the unlawful use of force and firearms, if they did not take all measures in their power to prevent, suppress or report such use.”
Continuing, they also asked the Police boss to publish a list of culpable officers and make available a digital platform for tracking cases with the police.
“In the spirit of fairness, justice, and tranquility for victims – both dead and alive – we also demand adequate compensation for citizens who may come open with verifiable evidence of their ordeal in the hands of FSARS operatives
“We demand that all SARS cells across Nigeria be opened for an independent investigator to look into cases of detainees.”
In Lagos State, the Odumosu had on Tuesday banned the command’s SARS unit from detaining suspects in their cells.
“It is going to be different because there will be more monitoring and supervision. The additional directive I gave yesterday (Monday) is that they must not even go to investigate any case without booking their arrival at the Area Commander’s office so that the Area Commander will know that they are in that area doing what they ought to do. Once they finish, they must go back and file entry,” he said on Channels TV.
“Secondly, I gave a directive that they must not detain anybody in their cells any longer. They can only detain at my office or at the Area Commander’s office. And the Area Commander must interview any suspect they want to detain and ascertain that the suspect had done what warranted being detained,” he said.
