Operatives of the newly created Special Weapons and Tactics Team of the Nigeria Police have been deployed in various parts of the country.
This was revealed by the minister of police affairs, Muhammad Dingyadi when he featured on a Channels Television programme Politics Today on Friday.
He noted that the SWAT operatives have since concluded their training and were already supporting police operations in their respective states.
“They (SWAT officers) have ended their training and they have been posted to the State Police Commands that brought them for training.
“They are there with them and they are performing the functions of the SWAT,” the minister said on the political show.
It would be recalled that Mohammed Adamu, former inspector-general of police, had constituted the SWAT team, following the disbandment of the special anti-robbery squad in the wake of the October 2020 EndSARS protests.
The creation of the new tactical team had received mixed reactions, including from the United Nations, which said the police swiftly created SWAT “without first addressing some of the root causes of police violence and putting in place sufficient safeguards to prevent future violations.”
But Frank Mba, force spokesman, had quoted the former IGP as saying SWAT will operate within “high professional and ethical standards, rule of law and dictates of best international policing practices”.
“The IGP reiterates that no personnel of the defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) will be a member the new Tactical Team. He notes that the officers selected for the training are young, smart and energetic officers who have acquired not less than seven years working experience with clean service records – no pending disciplinary matters, no record of violation of rights of citizens or misuse of firearms – and are physically fit to withstand the rigour of SWAT Training and Operations,” he had said.
