6th October, 2020
By Nehru Odeh
Nigerian controversial music, Azeez Fashola, aka Naira Marley, has condemned the current agitation to ban the notorious police anti-robbery squad, popularly known as SARS in the country.
According to him, the agitation is fueled by armed robbers, adding that there is no need to disband the Special Anti Robbery Squad unit of the police.
Naira Marley also said what the country needs at the moment is not outright disbandment of SARS, which is notorious for arbitrary killings and other human rights violations, but police reforms.
The Tesumole crooner stated this in an Instagram live session on Tuesday. He also gave reasons why the planned protest against police brutality earlier scheduled for today was cancelled, citing Covid-19 concerns.
“We need to reform SARS. Let’s be reasonable. Are you an armed robber? Why will you say they should end SARS? If you end SARS, it means they should end EFCC and other agencies. All we have to do is vet them off the road.
“Nobody threatened me, I know my rights. What stopped me was thinking of the safety of everybody and I saw that the police issued a statement, ” he maintained.
Naira Marley’s u-turn is coming as a surprise to many because he had always been a vocal critic of the Special Anti-Robbery squad and had scheduled a planned protest against SARS for today.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria police has said it will be having a live session with the Afro pop artistic to discuss reforms for the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS.
“Today, Tuesday 6th October, by 11am, the Force PRO, DCP Frank MBA will be having a live Instagram chat with Naira Marley to answer questions a d discuss the concerns of young Nigerians on the issues of SARS operations and other human rights issues,” the Nigeria Police said.