Crime • Created December 6, 2017 01:07

Nigerians campaign to #ENDSARS over abuse

 Amnesty International has demanded Nigerian government investigate allegations against the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), an outfit of the Nigerian Police Force for human rights abuses. It comes after an online campaign #EndSARS highlighted ruthless abuse of human rights by the outfit that’s meant to fight crime. “The scale of the reaction to this incident shows […]

Nigerians campaign to #ENDSARS over abuse

 Amnesty International has demanded Nigerian government investigate allegations against the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), an outfit of the Nigerian Police Force for human rights abuses.

It comes after an online campaign #EndSARS highlighted ruthless abuse of human rights by the outfit that’s meant to fight crime.

“The scale of the reaction to this incident shows that the concerns of the Nigerian people are reaching boiling point,” said Osai Ojigho, director of Amnesty International Nigeria.

“All incidents of violence meted out by this notorious police unit must be independently investigated, and those found to be responsible must be prosecuted in fair trials.”

Amnesty’s response follows an online video showing the aftermath of an alleged killing of a young man by SARS operatives.

“The #EndSARS hashtag is rightly gaining the attention of the police and Nigerian government and now officials must do more to end these horrendous abuses of power,” says Ojigho.

“Amnesty International highlighted such abuses more than a year ago and yet these shocking incidents still continue. Restructuring SARS is not enough, the government must take concrete steps to protect Nigerians.”

Restructuring SARS

In response to #EndSARS, police authorities have bowed to pressure to restructure the outfit.

A restructured SARS will now have a commissioner of police heading a federal Anti-Robbery Squad nationwide under the Department of Operations, Force Headquarters Abuja.

Commands in Zones, states and divisions will operate anti-crime units, crime prevention and control squads.

Federal SARS will operate in states and zones under the Commissioner of Police at the Force Headquarters.            

And at least a CSP no less than a superintendent will head a federal SARS in states and zones nationwide.

In response to the outcry, an X-squad is mandated to investigate compliance and abuse by SARS outfits.

In addition, SARS members will undergo training in police duties and human rights.

Not giving up

But #EndSARS is nowhere near giving up. The movement sparked a response from police authorities.

Torrents of allegations detailing abuse have come in over the last four days.

The allegations detail abuse, forceful confiscation of identity cards, women stripped naked and accused of being prostitutes, men forced to give up their phones and accused of involvement in internet scams—and policemen forcing them to ATMs to withdraw thousands of naira in settlement.

On its official twitter handle @policeNG, the Nigerian police force defended the essence of SARS and released a hotline where aggrieved Nigerians can report abuse by SARS.

The response generated more than 1,700 comments, most of them critical of the police, and over 1000 retweets.

Identity of men claiming to be SARS agents is at the heart of the controversy.

In one incident, a project tracking officer at BudgIT Nigeria, Moses Motoni, is reported to have been arrested in Kaduna by SARS personnel disguised as DHL delivery men, for an offence yet to be disclosed.

In another development, one of the major voices demanding the scrapping of SARS, Segun Awosanya, is under investigation for collusion with political actors.

Police spokespersons suspect him for mingling with politicians, citing the #ENDSARS campaign is politically motivated.

The authorities sent out photos of Awosanya with House speaker Yakubu Dogara as indicative of his political ties but came short of accusing politicians of backing the #ENDSARS campaign.

Awosanya said he took the photos with Dogara when his team submitted a petition for the scrapping of SARS to the Speaker in September.

Police spokesman Jimoh Moshood has responded to #ENDSARS campaign online, calling for abuses to be reported on several platforms—on twitter, facebook, BBM, by phone calls and emails—rather than call for an end to SARS.

Mounting abuse

Allegations of extra-judicial killings, torture, wanton arrests for bribes and other menacing conducts flooded social media since Saturday, with citizens taking their rage to the Internet and demanding action.

SARS is a special squad of police detailed to combat crime, especially robbery, kidnapping and cattle hustling.

But experiences following #ENDSARS have opened up allegations of extreme abuse, extrajudicial killings, unlawful detentions.

 

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