Any policeman accused of brutality will be dealt with – Lagos CP

The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Imohimi Edgal, yesterday threatened to severely deal with any policeman accused of brutality while carrying out his duty in the state. This is even as he has directed that those detained at the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) cell for non-violent crimes be transferred to the relevant sections of the […]

The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Imohimi Edgal, yesterday threatened to severely deal with any policeman accused of brutality while carrying out his duty in the state.

This is even as he has directed that those detained at the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) cell for non-violent crimes be transferred to the relevant sections of the command for further investigation and subsequent prosecution.

Edgal disclosed this yesterday at a meeting with personnel of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad at the POWA Secretariat, Oduduwa Street, GRA, Ikeja.

The meeting, it was gathered, was sequel to the recent directive from the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim K. Idris, that FSARS personnel must restrict their role to handling of violent crimes like armed robbery and kidnapping, and must dress in police uniform while carrying out their functions. 

The lecture was to ensure adherence and strict compliance with this directive. Also at the lecture were men and officers of the police Anti-Cultism and Anti-Kidnapping units. 

At the meeting, the state police boss also warned men and officers attached to FSARS not to operate in commercial vehicles. 

Edgal urged members of the public to alert the police leadership anytime they see people in mufti or inside a commercial vehicle operating or claiming to be FSARS operatives. 

The police Commissioner also called on the attention of residents of Agungi, in the Lekki-Ajah area of Lagos, to be on the look-out for a bus with registration number EKY 841, saying the vehicle was used by some men parading themselves as FSARS officials. “We have sufficient grounds to believe they are imposters,” he said. 

Edgal disclosed that in the last four days, the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the State Criminal Investigation And Intelligence Department  (SCIID), Yaba, and the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations had inspected the FSARS cells and reassigned the cases of those detained for non-violent crimes to other investigation units at the SCIID.