Police sources have revealed that about 120 operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad SARS, Lagos State Police Command are scrambling to get out of Lagos state as fast as possible due to fears for their personal safety.
120 SARS operatives have thus far applied to be transferred out of the unit in panic transfer moves following the new laws and orders laid down for the rogue unit by the force headquarters in Abuja.
The Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, stated new laws and orders via radio to the Lagos command as the determination to overhaul SARS as directed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo gathers momentum.
Information gathered reveal that the SARS operatives who have thus far applied for transfer out of the Lagos state command of the unit have stressed that remaining behind in the light of the new orders which severely restricts their power was a suicide mission.
According to a source, “Majority of the SARS men have chosen to leave the SARS’ unit. The application asking to be transferred is called demobbing. It is allowed in police.”
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As part of the reforms being carried out, the force headquarters sent a message to all SARS command across the country announcing several restrictions which include wearing of proper Police uniforms for proper identification,
Excerpts from the message read,
“SARS operatives, with immediate effect should desist from wearing FSARS/SARS black uniforms or any other dress earlier approved. Accordingly, all personnel must wear normal police uniforms, displaying clearly their name tags, force numbers in the case of the rank and files, police identification tags, pending IGP’s determination of their operational dress code. The IGP further directs that any officer who flouts this directive will be severely sanctioned, while supervising officers under whom this order is flouted will be held liable. Treat as very important please.”
Upon receipt of the new set of instructions, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Edgal Imohimi, immediately ordered all policemen under his watch to be on normal police uniform including operatives of X-squad and monitoring units.
Information gathered from the rank and file of the SARS unit further revealed that the operatives were not happy with the latest developments within their unit as many of them feel their invincibility have been stripped from them and they have become easy targets for armed robbers and kidnappers.
According to a source,
“These SARS men said it wouldn’t be easy for them to chase after armed robbers and kidnappers while in full police uniform. It will make them become easy target for these criminals. They called it a suicide mission. Nobody wants to die. They have wives and children. If they are killed by armed robbers, nobody cares for their wives or children.”
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo ordered the Inspector General of Police to overhaul the rogue police unit after protests and calls from the general public and human rights organisations about its criminal operations.
Complaints against SARS include, extortion, unlawful arrests, kidnapping, armed robbery and extra judicial killings.
The Vice President further banned all stop and search operations of the Unit and constituted a committee to investigate alleged crimes committed by operatives of SARS against innocent members of the Nigerian public in order to bring justice to victims.