The Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo has expressed disgust over the harassment of Nigerians by operatives of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS).
The vice president, who spoke to State House Reporters during an interaction at his Abuja residence, yesterday, also hailed the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, for banning routine patrol of the FSARS and other tactical squads of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).
Osinbajo also condemned the routine harassment of young Nigerians by operatives of the FSARS, describing the development as infuriating.
While condemning the actions of those officers he described as “bad eggs of the Force,” the vice president asked the police to stick to their mandates.
“I am very concerned, in fact, very angry about what I see, happening to young men and women who are arrested, in some cases maimed or killed by men of the police force,” he said.
He also commended Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) for speaking up against injustices meted out by some security operatives on young.
Such violations, according to Osinbajo, are “completely unacceptable because these are individuals who are meant to protect Nigerians. The arrest, maiming or killing of young people or anyone at all, is completely wrong. It is unlawful and illegal, and anyone involved in this act ought to be investigated and prosecuted.”
The vice president said: “Today, I had a meeting with the Inspector General of Police, we reviewed several of these issues. The President and I have had discussions on this; he is very concerned about it. He wants to see a reform.
“You are probably aware that the IGP has issued a statement looking at all these issues, in particular, the warning against the use of these tactical units such as SARS for purposes of doing anything other than anti-robbery.
“For example, and I think in his statement, he specifically said that you cannot have a situation where SARS says, they are investigating Cybercrime by arresting young men and women carrying their laptops and phones. Cybercrime is an electronic crime. I don’t see how you can investigate that by seizing people’s phones in a taxi or in their cars.
“It is very obvious that this is a major concern, a few bad eggs in the police force are causing all of these problems because it is all over the place, in different states. There is a need to take serious action.
“The IG’s statement today, is a good first step. He has said clearly that police men must wear police uniforms. You cannot say that because you belong to a tactical unit, you can dress in your casual clothing and be armed because people can’t even tell the difference between robbers and the police, if you are not properly dressed in police uniform. So, clearly, a reform is in the offing.
“So, I will like to encourage civil society activists, young men and women, who bring this regularly, by the way, to the attention of government and the police.
“And I think that activism is important because they have been able to bring a lot of these issues to the attention of the police and government, and that is an important part of the process of the reform.”
Urging that all hands be on deck to effect reforms, the VP said: “I think that we all have to work together to ensure that the police and law enforcement agents, do what their duty is and their duty is to protect us, protect our society and livelihoods and homes.
“By the way, many of them are doing their duties excellently well, but there are some of them who are engaged in these activities. So, we must see this as something we all must work together to achieve, as individuals, to bring to the attention of the police and government, where there have been violations.
“And on the part of government and the police: to ensure that every one of those allegations is properly investigated and those found responsible are prosecuted and publicized so that people know that prosecution has taken place and this is the consequence. I am very confident that we will have a reformed police force and that process has already begun.’’
Osinbajo’s remarks come shortly after Adamu, yesterday, warned FSARS and other Tactical Squads of the Force against carrying out stop and search duties, checkpoints, mounting of roadblocks, traffic checks, etc with immediate effect.
In a press release, yesterday, titled, “IGP Bans FSARS, Other Police Tactical Squads From Routine Patrols, Stop-And-Search Duties”, the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, “banned the personnel of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS) and other Tactical Squads of the Force including the Special Tactical Squad (STS), Intelligence Response Team (IRT), Anti-Cultism Squad and other Tactical Squads operating at the Federal, Zonal and Command levels, from carrying out routine patrols and other conventional low-risk duties – stop and search duties, checkpoints, mounting of roadblocks, traffic checks, etc – with immediate effect.
“In addition, no personnel of the Force is authorized to embark on patrols or tactical assignments in mufti. They must always appear in their police uniforms or approved tactical gear”, the statement, signed by the Force Public Relations Officer, DCP Frank Mba, stated.
The IGP’s directives come against the backdrop of findings by the leadership of the Force that a few personnel of the Tactical Squads hide under disguise to perpetrate all forms of illegality, contrary to the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), Code of Conduct and Rules of Engagement establishing the squads.
“Specifically, the IGP has warned the Tactical Squads against the invasion of the privacy of citizens particularly through indiscriminate and unauthorized search of mobile phones, laptops and other smart devices. They are to concentrate and respond only to cases of armed robbery, kidnapping and other violent crimes when the need arises.
“The IGP notes that the FSARS and other Police Tactical Squads remain a critical component of the Force in confronting prevailing and emerging violent crimes in the country.
“He, however, condemns every act of unprofessionalism, abuse of human rights and high-handedness by some personnel of the Squads.
“He has therefore ordered the X-Squad and the Monitoring Unit to embark on immediate and massive nationwide monitoring of activities of Tactical Squads and other police officers on the road.
“They are to ensure prompt arrest, investigation and prosecution of all erring police officers who violate these directives and other extant regulations of the Force.
“The IGP has equally warned that, henceforth, the Commissioner of Police in charge of FSARS, Commissioners of Police in charge of State Commands and the FCT as well as their supervisory Zonal Assistant Inspectors General of Police, will be held liable for any misconduct within their Area of Responsibility (AOR).
“He, therefore, charged them to ensure effective supervision and mentoring of the personnel of the Tactical Squads under their jurisdiction.
“Meanwhile, two operatives of the FSARS and their civilian accomplice operating in Lagos State, INSPR Sale James, INSPR Monday Uchiola and Okechukwu Ogbonna, have been arrested by the Lagos State Police Command, for acts of professional misconduct including extortion and intimidation of innocent citizens.
“The operational vehicle of the men has also been impounded and disciplinary procedure has already commenced against the defaulters.
“The IGP reaffirms his commitment to bequeathing to Nigerians, a reformed Police Force that is accountable, responsible and ever ready to defend and uphold the rights of the citizens while discharging its duties of keeping the people safe and secure.
“He enjoins the citizens not to allow the misconduct by a few personnel of the Force to negatively impact on their belief, confidence and trust in the police”, Mba added.
Reacting, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), yesterday, accused President Muhammadu Buhari of using the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) unit of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) against Nigerians.
HURIWA, a prominent rights group, claimed that Buhari has been using SARS operatives to quell peaceful protesters since 2015.
The group made the claim in response to the alleged killing of a young man in Ughelli, Delta State.
This is even as the Minister of State for Labour and Productivity, Festus Keyamo, SAN, denied the involvement of SARS operatives in the matter.
Keyamo had also claimed that the young man was alive and hospitalized.
Reacting to the controversy, a statement by the group’s National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko reads partly: “HURIWA has located the blame for the rampant shootings and extralegal killings of citizens by armed police operatives known as Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) on the desk of President Muhammadu Buhari for having a long history of impunity and crass misuse of the armed security forces to quell otherwise peaceful protests since 2015, thereby leading to the killing of dozens of Nigerians.”