IGP disbands SARS after nationwide protests

By our reporter|The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, on Sunday announced that the Special Anti-robbery Squad (SARS), the notorious sub-unit of the police force hs been dissolved.

The IGP made the disclosure following the widespread protests demanding a scrapping of the unit over allegations of brutality and human rights violations that has raged across the country for days.

Adamu said, “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.”

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 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 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.

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 profiling and wanton abuse of power.

Calls for the unit’s disbandment dates 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 current wave of protest began after the alleged October 3, extra-judicial killing in Delta State.

It sparked fresh concerns and anger. Fuelled by this, and the outpouring of tales of traumatic experiences at the hands of officials of the unit, many Nigerians have held protests in many states, including Lagos, the Federal Capital Territory, Kaduna, Osun, Edo, and Imo.