Yemi Osinbajo, Vice President of Nigeria has expressed his anger at the oppression and human right abuse by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).
This is coming after the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Adamu banned FSARS from routine patrols, stop and search duties.
Fielding questions from Journalists, Laolu Akande, spokesman to the VP said Osinbajo was very angry at the abuse Nigerians suffer in the hands of officers employed to protect them.
He quoted Osinbajo saying “I am very concerned, in fact, very angry about what I see, happening to young men and women who are arrested, in some cases maimed or killed by men of the police force,”
Osinbajo further disclosed President Buhari is very concerned about the issues raised against FSARS in the nation.
In a statement on Sunday, the Vice President revealed details of his meeting with IGP Mohammed Adamu.
He said;
”The arrest, maiming or killing of young people or anyone at all, is completely wrong. It is unlawful and illegal, and anyone involved in this act ought to be investigated and prosecuted.”
“Today, I had a meeting with the Inspector General of Police, we reviewed several of these issues. The President and I have had discussions on this, he is very concerned about it. He wants to see a reform.
“You are probably aware that the IGP has issued a statement looking at all these issues, in particular, the warning against the use of these tactical units such as SARS for purposes of doing anything other than anti-robbery.
“For example, and I think in his statement, he specifically said that you cannot have a situation where SARS says, they are investigating Cybercrime by arresting young men and women carrying their laptops and phones. Cybercrime is an electronic crime. I don’t see how you can investigate that by seizing people’s phones in a taxi or in their cars
“The IG’s statement today, is a good first step. He has said clearly that policemen must wear police uniforms. 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.
“So, I will like to encourage civil society activists, young men and women, who bring this regularly, by the way, to the attention of government and the police. And I think that activism is important because they have been able to bring a lot of these issues to the attention of the police and government, and that is an important part of the process of the reform.
“I think that we all have to work together to ensure that the police and law enforcement agents, do what their duty is and their duty is to protect us, protect our society and livelihoods and homes,”
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