By Pascal Oparada
For several days, the social media in Nigeria has been abuzz with stories of brutality, torture and outright murder allegedly perpetrated by operatives of the Special Ant-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigerian Police.
The immediate trigger was the death of a young man in Yaba area of Lagos allegedly killed SARS operatives.
The incident resonated with many Nigerians who also poured out their gory experiences in the hands of the security outfit.
Steve Victor, tweeting with the handle @Stvco said: “Sometime ago in Port Harcourt city, my car was shot at by SARS. I was in company of two friends. We were told same car with same number of occupants was used to rob recently. Similar experiences have been shared by others from around her.”
@Shosbaba said: “A friend of mine who lives in Oshogbo said SARS operatives go around with POS machines. You heard me right….POS machines…They’ll even follow you to the ATM to withdraw your money.”
@Ayomidearo recounted:“I was on my way to get suya in the night. SARS stopped me, asked for ID card, unfortunately I wasn’t with mine, told me to enter their van unless they would shoot me.. I entered the f……k van.
“They started searching my pockets, took my phone, Tom tom(they licked it), and 5K (N5,000). They took me round the whole community searching for another fish, unfortunately they caught another innocent boy. Two of us inside their van.
“Took me to their station, dropped me there and told me to be going. I asked for my money since I had no cash to take bike. They said they were going to use the money to buy fuel. They claimed I wasted their fuel.
“I was stranded. I didn’t know how to leave there.. Phone was dead.. Nobody to call.. No money… These people made me see hell that night… All for nothing,” he said.
For these Nigerians, nothing short of #EndSARS would assuage them.
But constitutional lawyer and President of Voters Awareness Initiative (VAI), Barrister Wale Ogunade told TheNiche that the idea of scrapping SARS was not the right move.
“SARS should be reorganised. As long as we have criminals and robbers in the society, we still need them . They have been trained specially for that purpose.
“The fundamental reorganisation that should take place in SARS is in respect of human rights and the rule of law. Any organisation that does not have these two basic elements will collapse.
“In terms of criminals, they deserve to have their rights respected irrespective of the fact that they are criminals. That does not violate their right to fair hearing,” Ogunade said.
For Governor of Rivers State Nyesome Wike, the current outcry against #EndSARS validated his stand that the outfit has outlived its usefulness.
The Nigeria Police Force on Tuesday, December 5, announced that it has started an investigation on Segun Awosanya, one of the lead campaigners for the scrapping of SARS. .
Awosanya was accused of using the campaign to do the bidding of politicians.
Police spokesperson, Jimoh Moshood, in an interview with Premium Times said:“When you see someone like that who regularly mingles with politicians now leading a campaign to scrap a critical department in the police, then you know his activities are not genuine”
While the controversy rages, a staff of BudgIT, Moses Motoni was allegedly arrested by SARS operatives in Niger State at the behest of a serving senator.
But in a tweet, the Nigeria police refuted the allegation that Motoni was arrested by SARS and released a photograph of Motoni with the police spokesperson, Jimoh Moshood.
Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris had ordered the rorganisation of SARS with immediate effect.
