Nigeria’s Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu, has banned the personnel of the dreaded Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS) and other “Tactical Squads” of the Force from operating on Nigerian roads.
The directive was contained in a statement issued yesterday and signed by the Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba.
The unit has been accused of several human rights violations, especially of young Nigerians, who are often accused of being involving in cyber-crimes by the SARS personnel, usually if they are seen with electronic gadgets, especially laptops.
The IGP’s directive came in the wake of the The #EndSars campaign online / social media campaign launched this past weekend after a video that went viral allegedly showed the killing of a citizen by SARS personnel in Delta State.
As part of the subsequent online campaign against SARS, many Nigerians, mostly youth, have given accounts of how they were harassed and beaten by men attached to SARS units all over the country. One of the alleged victims, Peter Clarke, who gave a detailed account of what happened to him took to his social media page to reveal how he was pepper-sprayed, slapped, searched, harassed and his life threatened by SARS personnel, saying he was lucky not to have lost his life only through the timely intervention of passers-by.
In the new directive by the Inspector-General, FSARS and other Tactical Squads of the Police such as the Special Tactical Squad (STS), Intelligence Response Team (IRT), Anti-Cultism Squad and other Tactical Squads are to stop all activities on Nigerian roads.
The statement further stated that such activities include routine patrols and other conventional low-risk duties such as stop and search duties, mounting of checkpoints and roadblocks, traffic checks, among others, are to stop with immediate effect.
“In addition, no personnel of the Force is authorized to embark on patrols or tactical assignments in mufti”.
“They must always appear in their police uniforms or approved tactical gear”, the statement added.
The IGP’s directives come against the backdrop of findings by the leadership of the Force that a few personnel of the Tactical Squads hide under that guise to perpetrate all forms of illegality, “contrary to the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), Code of Conduct and Rules of Engagement establishing the squads.”
“Specifically, the IGP has warned the Tactical Squads against the invasion of the privacy of citizens particularly through indiscriminate and unauthorized search of mobile phones, laptops and other smart devices”, the statement added.
The statement , however, said SARS personnel are henceforth only to concentrate and respond to cases of armed robbery, kidnapping and other violent crimes when the need arises.