After weeks of both local and international protests against a unit of the Nigerian police known as Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) to be scrapped, the President of the country; Muhammadu Buhari has taken to his twitter handle to speak on the issue.
Recall that the inspector general of police (IGP) Mohammed Adamu on Sunday announced that the SARS unit has been dissolved. This news was received with mixed reactions from Nigerians but it didn’t put the protests happening across the nation to a halt.
Today, President Muhammadu Buhari has addressed the issue via his twitter page and he said that the dissolution of SARS is the first step in the reform of the Nigerian Police.
“The disbanding of SARS is only the first step in our commitment to extensive police reforms in order to ensure that the primary duty of the police and other law enforcement agencies remains the protection of lives and livelihood of our people,” Buhari said in a video on Monday.
“We will also ensure that all those responsible for misconduct and wrongful acts are brought to justice.”
The SARS was founded in 1992 by former police commissioner Simeon Danladi Midenda. SARS is one of the 14 units in the Force Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department which was established to detain, investigate and prosecute people involved in crimes like armed robbery, kidnapping and other forms of crimes.
However, in recent years now instead of SARS sticking to its duties, it has been known by the public for harassing, extorting and illegally arresting the citizens, specifically the youths.
There have also been cases of extrajudicial killings by some SARS officials in different parts of Nigeria.
This is why Nigerians home and abroad in thousands online and offline via the protests demanded the scrapping of the police unit.
Despite announcing the dissolution of the unit by the IGP, Nigerians continued the protest, demanding an overhaul of the police, an end to brutality and an executive order from Buhari to the scrapping of SARS.
Reports from the protests as at today have revealed that more than five Nigerians have lost their lives while many are injured as police personnel shot at protesters. One of the protesters Jimoh Ishaq was shot dead in Oyo State on Saturday.
“We also deeply regret the loss of life of the young man in Oyo State during the recent demonstrations. I have directed that the circumstances of his death should be thoroughly investigated,” Buhari said.
The president said the majority of Nigeria Police personnel are “diligent and hardworking in performing their duties” and their image should not be tarnished because of “a few bad eggs.”
He said the responsibility of police personnel remains to protect citizens.
