Five Things To Know As IGP Dissolves SARS After Widespread Protests

The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, has dissolved the infamous subunit of the Nigerian Police force, the Special Anti-robbery Squad (SARS).

The dissolution was made 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 exist,” the IGP said.

The unit which was founded in 1992 to combat cases of armed robbery, kidnapping, and other violent crimes, had over time, gained notoriety for its reckless intimidation of innocent civilians through puerile profiling and wanton abuse of power.

Calls for the unit’s disbandment date as far back as 2017 and while the Federal Government and police chiefs have made several pledges to implement reforms, reports of SARS’ brutal activities against civilians have not abated.

Five Things To Know As IGP Dissolves SARS After Widespread Protests — Young men take part in a demonstration calling for the scrapping of the controversial Special Anti-Robbery Squad “SARS” police unit, in Ikeja, on October 8, 2020. PIUS UTOMI EKPEI / AFP

However, following the disbandment of the SARS, below are five things to know:

1). The Inspector General of Police has dissolved the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) across all the 36 State Commands and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) with Immediate effects.

2). All officers and men serving in the Unit will be redeployed to other Police Commands, Formations and Units.

3). A new policing arrangement for tackling the offences of Armed-Robbery and other violent crimes will be unveiled to the public soon.

4). A citizens and strategic stakeholders forum will be launched to provide an avenue to citizens to regularly interface and advise the police authority on issues touching on the general public .

5). To deal with the reports of crimes committed against citizens, an investigative team will be constituted which will include Civil Society Organizations and culprits will be punished.