There was outrage in Nigeria on Sunday over the extra-judicial killings, harassment, and extortion of innocent Nigerians by the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad, one of the units of the Nigerian Police Force.
One of the prominent Nigerian politicians who have condemned the unconstitutional behavior of the Police unit is the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo. Others who have joined in condemning the SARS Operatives were Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege and the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo.
The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, in a swift reaction to the extrajudicial killings and harassment of innocent Nigerians, banned personnel of the SARS Operatives from their usual patrol, stop-and-search, mounting of roadblocks and traffic checks with immediate effect.
On Saturday, there was a viral video where SARS Operatives were seen shooting a young man in Ugheli, Delta State. The security men were said to have fled with the victim’s Lexus Jeep and left his body on the roadside.
A sales coordinator with Rifugio Communications Limited, a partner of Samsung, Joshua Oghenekevwe, on Thursday was abducted by policemen in Epe on his way to Warri, Delta State. They were alleged to have seized his phone and forced him to pay the sum of ₦100,000 after threatening to kill him.
On September 10, a graduate, Ifeoma Abugu, was allegedly murdered by SARS Operatives, four days after her introduction, they were alleged to have whisked him away after they stormed the residence of her fiancé, Afam Ugwunwa, at Wumba Village in the Lokogoma area of Abuja to arrest him.
While reacting to the development at his official residence in Abuja, the Vice President expressed his anger about the action of some policemen, especially those attached to SARS, whom he accused of harassing, maiming and killing Nigerians nationwide.
He added that such action coming from those saddled with the responsibilities of protecting the citizens were unacceptable.
They, therefore, commended the police authorities for the statement issued on the matter, adding that it was wrong for the police to be seizing laptops and phones from young Nigerians in the name of fighting cybercrime.
Osinbajo said, “I am very concerned and in fact sometimes angry about what I see happening to young men and women, who are arrested, and in some cases, maimed or killed by men of the police force; in some cases, those who man tactical units of the police force such as SARS and other units.
“It is completely objectionable. It is unacceptable. These are individuals who are meant to protect Nigerians. The arrest, maiming, killing of young people or of anyone at all by these individuals is completely wrong. It is unlawful. It is illegal and all those involved ought to be investigated and prosecuted.
“This afternoon, I had a meeting with the IG of Police. We reviewed several of these issues. The President and I had had discussions on this. He is very concerned about this and he wants to see a reform of this process and I am sure you are probably aware that the IG has issued a statement, looking at all these issues, in particular, warning against the use of these tactical forces such as SARS for the purposes of anything other than anti-robbery as it is supposed to be.
“For example, in the statement, he specifically said that we can’t have a situation where SARS will say they are investigating cybercrime and arresting young men and women who are carrying laptops and their phones.
“Cybercrime is an electronic crime. There is no way that you can investigate that by seizing people’s phones in a taxi. I think it is very obvious that this is a major concern. The few bad eggs within the police force are causing a lot of these.”
The Vice President added that it is difficult to differentiate between the Police and armed robbers.
“You cannot say that because you belong to a tactical unit, you can dress in your casual clothing and be armed, because people can’t even tell the difference between robbers and the police; if you are not properly dressed in police uniform. So, clearly, a reform is in the offing.”
He then called on Nigerians to continue to bring the issue consistently to the attention of the government and the police.
He said, “On the part of government and the police: to ensure that every one of those allegations is properly investigated and those found responsible are prosecuted and publicised so that people know that prosecution has taken place and this is the consequence. I am very confident that we will have a reformed police force and that process has already begun.”
