Nigeria’s Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, on Sunday dissolved the force subunit, the Special Anti-robbery Squad (SARS) following days of widespread protests.
Adamu announced the dissolution after heavy protests in some parts of the country demanding a scrap of the unit over allegations of human rights violations and brutality.
“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.
Calls for the unit’s disbandment date as far back as 2017; while the Federal Government and police chiefs have made several pledges to implement reform, reports of SARS’ brutal activities against civilians have not abated.
The unit which was established in 1992 to combat cases of armed robbery, kidnapping, and other violent crimes has over the years been accused of brutality and reckless intimidation of innocent civilians.
The demand for the unit’s disbandment emerged sometime in 2017, while the Federal Government and police chiefs in previous responses to the calls made several pledges to reform of subunit of the force which remains unimplemented.
The current outcry was sparked following a recent report of extra-judicial killing in Delta State.
The police, however, swiftly denied any killing concerning the report.
The incident propelled fresh concerns and anger and consequently led to the outpouring of tales of traumatic experiences at the hands of officials of the unit.
Nigerians have held protests in many states, including the Abuja – Federal Capital Territory, Lagos, Ogun, Kaduna, Osun, Edo, Imo and Oyo States.
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Adamu in the press conference on Sunday, however, pointed out that the current developments and the outcry by sections of Nigerian has remained under constant monitoring and due assessment by the government.
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, noted that “the dissolution of SARS is in response to the yearnings of the Nigerian people”.
He said, “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”.
The force spokesperson, 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 soon.
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