The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, has finally bowed to pressure and dissolved the subunit of the force, the Special Anti-robbery Squad (SARS).
The dissolution is coming on the hills of the #EndSARS protest nationwide.
Adamu made the announcement of the dissolution on Sunday, days after widespread protests demanding a scrapping of the unit over allegations of brutality and human rights violations.
“The Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Nigerian Police, otherwise known as SARS, is hereby dissolved across all formations, the 36 state police command and the Federal Capital Territory where they currently exists,” the IGP said.
The IGP at the press conference on Sunday, however, noted that the current developments and the outcry by sections of Nigerian have remained under constant monitoring and due assessment by the government.
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He also noted that the government acknowledges the inalienable rights of citizens to freedom of association and expression.
Also in a statement, the Force Public Relations Office, Force Headquarters, Dcp Frank Mba, said: “the dissolution of SARS is in response to the yearnings of the Nigerian people”.
He explained that “the Force is not oblivious of the ever-present need to combat armed robbery, kidnapping and other violent crimes in the country which was before now the core mandate of the erstwhile Squad”.
Mba, therefore, assured that a new policing arrangement to address anticipated policing gaps which the dissolution of SARS would cause has been evolved and shall be announced in due course.
With the new development, all officers and men currently serving in the unit are now expected to be redeployed with immediate effect.
According to the IGP, new policing arrangements to address the offences of armed robbery and other violent crimes that fall within the mandate of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad will also be presented in due course.
He further noted that a citizens’ and strategic stakeholders’ forum will be formed to regularly interface with the leadership of the police at all levels and advice on police activities.
Beyond that, Adamu said an investigation team to deal with the reports of crimes committed against citizens, will be constituted and will include civil society organisations for transparency as culprits will be punished.
The unit was founded in 1992 to combat cases of armed robbery, kidnapping, and other violent crimes. But SARS, instead, over time, has gained notoriety for its reckless intimidation of innocent civilians through puerile profiling and wanton abuse of power.
The #EndSARS protest started on October 3, after another report of extra-judicial killing in Delta State which the police have denied.
