11th October, 2020
Two Commissioners of Police on Sunday hailed the decision of the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, to disband the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The dissolution followed their alleged reckless behaviours on the society.
The commissioners said that the dissolution of SARS would help in reducing violence erupting from various anti-protesting groups across the country.
One of them, Mr Fatai Owoseni, said that the peaceful protest organised by responsible citizens had been hijacked by hoodlums to perpetuate crime and create unrest in the society.
“The dissolution of the anti-robbery unit will help to lessen the aggression fueled by protesting youths and hopefully stabilise decorum in the society,” Owoseni, a retired commissioner of police said.
Also speaking, Commissioner Awotinde Awoshola said that the IGP made a smart decision by disbanding the unit for peace to be restored to the country.
Awoshola said that the excesses of the anti-robbery unit had to be checked and that can only be achieved by disbanding the unit.
“However, the disbandment of SARS will only create room for the establishment of another security outfit. We hope that the new outfit will carry out the objectives of the Federal Government to the letter,” he said.
Also, Mr Monday Ubani, a lawyer, supported the decision of the government to bring an end to SARS as a way of listening to the voices and cries of the public.
Ubani, however, said that the disbandment would only create room for a better anti-robbery unit to be brought to play to continue the fight against crime in the society.
“There is going to be a work out programme by the Nigeria Police Force, Civic Society group and major stakeholders on who will replace SARS in fighting crime,” he said.
Ubani said that the officials of the disbanded unit usually picked on well-dressed young men who use expensive phones and try to extort money from them based on the premise they were internet fraudsters.
“This has led to harassment and an infringement on the rights of such citizens which is unacceptable,” he said.
Also, a social critic and a human rights activist, Mr Kehinde Nubi, said that the government should set up a panel to investigate the crimes committed by the officials of the SARS for justice to prevail.
Nubi said that this was not the first time that a special unit of the police would be disbanded after a public outcry only for the unit to be brought back.
“A disbandment of the unit is not only satisfactory. We need the government to set up a panel that will punish erring officials of SARS as a deterrent to others,” he said.