The Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Police Force,
DCP Frank Mba, says operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, a special arm
of the Force, are “deeply” involved in the fight against banditry and terrorism
in the northern part of the country.
Mba emphasised that SARS cannot be scrapped because of the
ongoing fight against crimes in the country but said the Force is currently
reforming the operations of SARS officers nationwide to curtail their excesses.
The Force PRO spoke in Abuja on Friday while featuring on
Channels Television’s programme, Sunrise Daily.
There has been renewed outrage across the country over the
harassment, extortion and extra-judicial killings of innocent Nigerians by SARS
operatives.
The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, had in a
swift reaction banned SARS personnel from engaging in routine patrols,
stop-and-search, mounting of roadblocks and traffic checks with immediate
effect. But the #EndSARSNotBanSARS hashtag continues to trend on social media.
There have also been various demonstrations by #EndSARS
protesters across the country this week. According to the protesters, the
Sunday ban by the IGP was not the first of such bans.
Speaking on Friday, however, the Force spokesperson stressed
that the Adamu-led NPF was committed to reforming SARS.
“I have heard some critics say these instructions have been
given before but I will challenge them to produce any other IGP that has given
these instructions very clearly, articulated them very clearly as IGP Adamu has
done,” Mba said while appealing to the general public to give the Police some
time for the full implementation of the IGP instructions.
He noted that different people have different motivations
for calling for the end to SARS but the Force would do everything possible to
get rid of bad elements within SARS.
Mba said, “If #EndSARS is a metaphor and is seen as a call
for a symbolic reform of SARS, I will say clearly that the leadership of the
NPF is in line and is ready to work with those who are making that call.
“However, if the #EndSARS should be seen and interpreted as
the total disbandment of SARS, I will tell you very clearly that it will be
difficult for any responsible organisation to walk that path taking into
cognisance the amount of investment that government has made in training and (in)
setting up that department, (and) taking into cognisance the critical role that
department is playing.
“As a matter of fact, we have also received a lot of calls
from people, particularly in states like Yobe, Maiduguri (Borno), Katsina and
other parts of the north where SARS operatives are deeply embedded in the fight
against banditry, in the fight against insurgency.
“And these people have made it very clear that ending SARS
is not even an option for them because of the critical roles that SARS operatives
are playing in those areas to rein down heavily on bandits, on terrorists and
other kinds of violent criminals.”
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