Says aaction is in response to the yearnings of Nigerians
An investigative body to be constituted to examine cases of human rights violation against the now defunct SARS
Other measures to be put in place to protect citizens
The Inspector General of Police today announced the dissolution of the Special Anti Robbery Squard (SARS).
A statement signed by the Force Public Relation Officer, DCP, Frank MBA said the dissolution affects all 36 states command of the SARS and the FCT, “the Inspector-General of Police, IGP M.A Adamu, NPM, mni has today, 11th October, 2020, dissolved the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) across the 36 State Police Commands and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) where they hitherto existed.
He noted that the dissolution was in response to the yearnings of the Nigerian people who have been protesting the activities of the squad all over the country in the past few days.
By the dissolution he noted that, all officers and men of the now defunct Special Anti-robbery Squad would be redeployed with immediate effect to other departments of the force while assuring that other measures would be put in place to address the growing security challenges in the country.
“The IGP notes 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. He assures that a new policing arrangement to address anticipated policing gaps the dissolution of SARS would cause has been evolved and shall be announced in due course”
To forestall a reoccurence of the series of abuses that trailed the now defunct SARS he announced the formation of a Citizens’ and Strategic Stakeholders’ Forum to regularly interface with the police leadership at all levels and advise on police activities as they affect the general public.
With the dissolution of SARS he also announced the constitution of an Investigation Team which shall include Civil Society Organizations and Human Rights Bodies to work with the Police in investigating alleged cases of human rights violations. The measure, he said would enhance transparency and accountability in police services as well as providing a system of deterrence for erring police officers whose action clearly violates the rights of the citizenry.
