Group Urges Buhari To Disband SARS For Terrorizing Nigerians

President Muhammadu Buhari has been charged by a Civil Society Organisation, to disband the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS.

This is coming after SARS operatives on Saturday allegedly killed a young man in Ughelli, Delta State and fled from the scene of the incident in the victim’s car.

Centre for Advancement of Civil Liberties and Development in its message called on the Buhari-led government to release all those arrested by SARS operatives across the country.

The group stated this in a statement jointly signed by co-conveners of the group namely: Adebayo Raphael, Ariyo-Dare Atoye, and Deji Adeyanju.

It further stated that disbanding SARS is the only way to stop these police operatives from “terrorising” Nigerians.

The statement reads: “We condemn in its totality, the resurgence of unprovoked and unjustified violence of operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) on Nigerian citizens, especially the youths in different parts of the country.

“We have watched with disdain, the several clips of SARS brutality populating different social media platforms, and how the operatives of this Police Unit — legitimately constituted to combat crime and ensure the safety of the people have now become agents of terror and unwarranted brutality and abuse to Nigerian youths.”

“In line with Chapter II, Section 14 (2)(b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended, it is clear to us and the majority of Nigerians that this police unit has failed to prioritize the security of the Nigerian people, but has rather become a bane to our nation’s security and a monstrous threat to the safety of the Nigerian people.”

“It is on this basis that we declare, therefore, that the Federal Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria must act immediately and decisively to shut down this unit of the Nigeria Police Force and ensure that it henceforth ceases to exist in our country.”

“In addition, the Federal Government must order the immediate and unconditional release of all innocent citizens who have been unjustly incarcerated by this unit and compensate them accordingly.”

“Further, the Federal Government must immediately order an independent inquiry into the rogue activities of SARS operatives in the last one year and punish any and every operative found guilty of extortion, abuse of Nigerian citizens and execution or killing of any innocent citizen within the said timeframe.”

“Our hope is that the Federal Government will side with the Nigerian people, and not this rogue unit terrorizing Nigerians with unbridled impunity. The Nigerian Police Force can only become an institution that protects the Nigerian people when it is free of anti-people and anti-democratic elements like the operatives in the SARS unit.”