IGP Bans SARS From Carrying-out Stop and Search Operations

The Nigeria Inspector-General of Police, Mr Ibrahim Idris, has placed a ban on Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS) which is a unit of the Nigerian Police from carrying out stop and search operations on roads unnecessarily.

A few weeks ago, so many people have raised their voices via their social handle and or peaceful demonstration with the hashtag #EndSARS to call for the scrapping of SARS based on harassment of innocent people.

The IG of Police, Ibrahim Idris following the allegation has promised to restructure that unit of the Police to ensure effective service delivery as men deployed to SARS would undergo training, continuous assessment and psychometric test to determine their suitability or otherwise.

IGP

He warned members of the group against acting as bodyguards, delving into land matters and debt collection that were considered civil. And also said that members of the unit must only embark on operations with the permission of the commissioner of police in charge of SARS in the police commands.

“You must operate in official uniform clearly marked for identification.”

“I just want to warn you all here that any officer caught engaging in these activities will be dealt with accordingly.”

“The Nigeria Police force under my leadership shall operate strictly guided by the human rights principles as enshrined in the United Nations charter on human rights,”.

He mandated the Inspector-General of police’s monitoring units and the X-squad and other oversights units of the force to monitor the activities of the SARS. The police boss noted that the establishment of the unit was due to activities of the men of the underworld.

IGP said as part of measures to check the unit, they would be solely mandated to confront only armed robbery cases and violent crimes in the country