In the spirit of democratic, citizen-centred and community policing, the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Mohammed Adamu has dissolved the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) across the 36 State Police Commands and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) where they hitherto existed.
DCP Frank Mba, Force Public Relations Officer, in a release said he IGP, while noting that the dissolution of SARS was in response to the yearnings of the Nigerian people, observed 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. He assures that a new policing arrangement to address anticipated policing gaps the dissolution of SARS would cause has been evolved and shall be announced in due course,” the release said.
In the meantime the Police has, as part of measures to prevent a re-occurrence of events that gave rise to the dissolution of SARS, announced the formation of a Citizens’ and Strategic Stakeholders’ Forum to regularly interface with Police leadership at all levels and advise on police activities as they affect the general public.
Mba added that: “the Force is constituting an Investigation Team which shall include Civil Society Organizations and Human Rights Bodies to work with the Police in investigating alleged cases of human rights violations. The measure, the IGP believes, will enhance transparency and accountability in police services as well as providing a system of deterrence for erring police officers whose action clearly violates the rights of the citizenry.”
According to the release, the IGP also appreciated and commended all citizens particularly those who genuinely express their concerns for a better policing orientation in an organized, patriotic and civil manner while reaffirming the determination of the Force to bequeath to the country a Police Force and System that is professional in service delivery and most importantly, accountable to the people.