Protesters led by Presidential Candidate of African Action Congress (AAC) Omoyele Sowore, human rights activist, Deji Adeyanju, Co-Convener of Bring Back Our Girls Group, Aisha Yesufu among others have stormed the headquarters of the Police force in Abuja, demanding immediate disbandment of the force’s Special Anti Robbery Squad SARS.
Speaking during the protest, Human Rights Activist, Omoyele Sowore lamented that the tactical unit had made a carer out of the extrajudicial killings of youths for flimsy excuses.
He therefore called on the Inspector General of Police, Muhammed Adamu desist from issuing mere statements but take immediate action in addressing the menace
“A notorious unit of the Nigeria Police Force created in 1992, has been engaging in systematic violation of human rights.
“We are asking Police to scrap them because they claim they have banned them several times but in the real sense, they have never being banned,” said Sowore.
Responding, the Police Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba assured protesters that the IG was on top of the situation, adding that measures have been put in place to address the concerns of the protesters and Nigerians at large.
“The Inspector-General of Police, have heard your voices very clearly even before this protest began and that was why certain intervention was made over the weekend. As at the time those interventions were made, we had no idea that you people were planning to come out to the street. Yet the IG acted proactively.
“He dished our certain instructions that SARS operatives and other members of the tactical teams are not allowed to be on the road. He made it clear that no Police officer will be allowed to come out on the road patrolling the streets or conducting stop and search in mufti. He made it very clear that no Police officer is allowed to unlawfully and indiscriminately check the phones, computers and other smart devices of Nigerians.
“He went on to make it very clear that not only these Policemen will be arrested but will be publicly paraded and prosecuted if found guilty and even the Commissioners of the State where those incidents happened would be vicariously held responsible.” Said Mba.
