The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, says a new policing arrangement to replace the now-defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad will be announced “in due course”.
The PUNCH reports that the IGP on Sunday afternoon announced the dissolution of the special arm of the Nigeria Police Force.
The announcement came after days of online and offline protests against the brutality and extra-judicial killings by SARS, a specialised unit that was created over a decade ago to tackle armed robbery.
Over the years, however, SARS operatives started extorting money from youths driving big cars, using expensive phones, laptops or wearing dreadlocks.
The harassment has on several occasions degenerated to killings.
At the briefing, the IGP said, “The Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Nigeria Police Force otherwise known as SARS is hereby dissolved in all the 36 State Police Commands and the Federal Capital Territory.”
The briefing was immediately followed by a statement signed by Force Public Relations Officer, DCP Frank Mba. The statement was titled, ‘IGP Dissolves The Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS)’.
The statement partly read, “The IGP, while noting that the dissolution of SARS is in response to the yearnings of the Nigerian people, observes that by this dissolution, all officers and men of the now-defunct Special Anti-robbery Squad are being redeployed with immediate effect.
“The IGP notes that the Force is not oblivious of the ever-present need to combat armed robbery, kidnapping and other violent crimes in the country which was before now the core mandate of the erstwhile Squad.
Pix: IGP Mohammed Abubakar Adamu
