There’s No Plan To Bring Back SARS — IGP
The Nigerian Police Force has claimed that it has no plans to resurrect the renowned Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) (SARS).
The defunct SARS will not be resurrected, according to Inspector-General of Police Alkali Baba Usman.
SARS was dismantled in late 2020, following a nationwide #EndSARS protest amid suspected SARS officer brutality, extrajudicial killings, and human rights violations.
The IGP was alleged to have announced new terms and conditions on the functioning of SARS officers in a statement that went viral earlier on Thursday.
SARS has been overhauled with new norms of engagement, according to Baba Usman, who was quoted in the announcement.
However, the police now stated that the complaint was false and unsubstantiated.
On Thursday, the Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, issued a statement to that effect.
The SARS squad, according to the police chief, has been disbanded and will never be revived.
Mba said, “The Force wishes to categorically emphasise that there is no plan whatsoever to bring back the disbanded SARS. SARS is gone for good and will not resurrect under any guise whatsoever.
“The IGP notes that the Force has since reorganized its operational structure to fill the vacuum created by the disbandment of SARS.
“Currently, the leadership of the Force is focused on efforts at deepening reforms within the Police and bequeathing Nigerians a Police Force that will be more effective, efficient, technology-driven, humane and Rule of Law-compliant.”
Last October, there were massive protests in some states tagged #EndSARS, largely organised by youths, to call for an end to police brutality.
They also demanded that SARS, a police unit, notorious for human rights abuses, extrajudicial killings, and other atrocities should be disbanded.
But during the protests against police brutality, the Nigeria police unleashed more terror on peaceful protesters in many parts of the country, including at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos, the epicentre of the struggle.
The repressive regime of Muhammadu Buhari was thereafter forced to disband SARS.
It thereafter introduced the Special Weapons and Tactics Team, which many Nigerians described as not different from the disbanded SARS.
