Taming FSARS’ Monsters In Rivers

Nothing could have been more exhilarating than the recent revelation by the lawmaker representing Obio/Akpor Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon. Kingsley Chinda that the lower legislative chambers is fine-tuning plans to begin an inquest into the alleged illegal activities of the special anti-robbery squad (SARS) in Rivers State.
Chinda, arguably the most vocal National Assembly member from Rivers State, had told The Tide in an exclusive interview in Port Harcourt that the decision of the House to investigate SARS atrocious activities in the State was sequel to a motion he moved in that regard.
Explaining how he had been inundated with several complaints and petitions from his constituents on the operations of SARS, the lawmaker hinted that an adhoc committee of the House would be constituted and would visit the State for fact-finding. This, he said, would afford both the people and the SARS Commander in the State, Akin Fakorede and his men ample opportunity to defend themselves.
The federal lawmaker, himself a victim of Akin Fakorede’s SARS, recalled the squad’s notoriety at the collation centre during the last re-run Senatorial election in the State, and regretted federal government’s inaction to all the weighty complaints and allegations against it.
Even, the State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, had for the umpteenth time accused Fakorede, a lawyer and Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), of professional misconduct dating back to the 2015 general elections when he was first accused of aiding the All Progressives Congress (APC) to rig the elections and subsequent rerun polls in 2016 in the State.
It must be recalled here that the Prof. Okechukwu Ibeanu five-man Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) panel on the Rivers State election rerun of December 10, 2016 had earlier in its report indicted Fakorede and many other security operatives of flagrant display of partisanship and willful obstruction of the electoral process in a most disturbing magnitude.
Said the report, “But the most mind-boggling were cases of hostage taking, hijack of materials and physical attacks on INEC officials, perpetrated by security operatives. Of singular note was a certain policeman named Akin Fakorede, who ostensibly is a commander of SARS in Rivers State. We suspect that he would have put out staff in harm’s way.”
Notwithstanding the INEC’s damning report, Fakorede has continued to hobnob with APC chieftains in the State to the extent that he had on an occasion covered the defeated APC governorship candidate in the 2015 elections, Dakuku Peterside, with an umbrella when it was raining, in full public glare, thus, confirming his level of partisanship.
Also, not too long ago, the State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Emma Okah and the State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Emmanuel Aguma, (SAN), had at different fora reeled out the illegal activities of SARS, insisting that the security outfit was determined to destabilise the State on behalf of its paymasters – the APC-controlled Federal Government. We agree no less.
Indeed, rather than provide security for Rivers people, SARS has become an instrument of crime and all sorts of anti-social activities, indiscriminately arresting unwary members of the public, forcing charges on them and criminally extorting money at gun point.
Only recently, the anti-crime team of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) reportedly accosted three SARS operatives in the State, robbing. The operatives were said to have taken their hostage to a bank ATM and compelled him to withdraw N.5 million as ransom. In the ensuing gun duel, one of the SARS operatives was killed while one Inspector Nyeche who led the IGP team was injured.
Albeit, hardly a day passes without reports of SARS’ criminal activities in the State. The Tide considers the horrendous incidents as scandalous, embarrassing and ridiculous to the Police High Command which, from all intents and purposes, ostensibly appears helpless as Fakorede and his gang could be acting out a script written for them. What this means is that it is a case of Jacob’s voice, Esau’s hand!
Whereas SARS operatives in other parts of the country have acquitted themselves creditably in the professional discharge of their constitutional duties, SARS in Rivers State is notorious for criminal activities. There is, therefore, hardly anything on the credit side of Fakorede’s SARS to warrant their continued retention in the State. What is more scandalous than the persistence of cultist attacks, robbery and other crimes under the very watch of SARS in Rivers State? Do all these not eloquently testify to SARS’ incompetence or complicity or both?
Though Fakorede had consistently denied all the allegations against him and SARS, the security outfit in the State is currently highly constipated and would require a veritable laxative to effectively purge it of all the rubbish in it given its unwholesome activities.
While The Tide detests the Federal Government’s loud silence over the weighty and alarming allegations and controversies in which the squad and its leadership have been mired, we urge a total overhaul of SARS in the State including redeploying Fakorede and his notorious men from the State. This is the only way to tame the FSARS’ monsters in the State, redeem the image of the Police and reposition the squad for better performance.
These measures have become more imperative considering the unparalleled contributions of the State to the national economy and its unequalled support to the Police.