#EndSARS: Falana speaks on call for dissolution

Falana says SARS is constitutionally illegal.

A Lawyer and Human Right Activist, Femi Falana has said that the Special Anti-robbery Squad (SARS) is an illegal squad which must be totally revamped.

Falana, who stated this while speaking on Channels TV programme, ‘Sunrise Daily’ on Tuesday, said that SARS is a legacy of military regime.

According to him, armed troops and soldiers among SARS operators should be removed while the policemen among them must be reorientated because they operate like they are in military era.

“You must remove the soldiers in SARS and retrain the police among them. You re-orientate them because they still behave as if they are under military dictatorship because SARS is a legacy of military dictatorship.

“As it is constituted, it is partly illegal under a civilian and democratic dispensation. Under the constitution, the duty of maintaining internal security, law and order in Nigeria is vested exclusively in the police.

“SARS is constituted by armed troops, soldiers and police personnel all over the country. Every state government maintains the SARS in the country and these state governments have not bothered to find out what is this body doing in terms of law enforcement, combating armed robbery and performance in terms of respecting the rights of the Nigerian people,” he said.

Falana added, “The Nigerian new colonial state cannot afford to scrap SARS, it is not possible. We have an increasing wave of armed robbery, kidnapping terrorism and other serious violent crimes which the regular police personnel have not been trained to curb or combat, therefore we are going to have SARS but it has to be totally overhauled.”

Falana therefore, commended some Nigerians protesting against the brutality of SARS, saying any demonstration by Nigerians against perceived injustice should be encouraged.

However, he added that the protesters must also be made to appreciate that the law has taken care of all their concerns and fears.

“What we are therefore required to do is to ensure that the laws are enforced which has made it illegal to detain a Nigerian without taking him to the court in a place like Lagos or in the rural areas beyond 48hours,” he said.