The Social media has been agog on #ENDSARS campaign to protest extortion and harassment of innocent citizens. The End Special Anti-Robbery Squad, (ENDSARS) is an advocacy group opposing the special Anti-Robbery Squad, a unit of the Nigeria Police Force.
Lot of voices had joined in calling the Nigeria Police force to order on the way and manner its boys go about terrorizing, killing and unwarranted arrest.
This is not the first time that Nigerians will call for the total scrapping of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS) but the Inspector general of Police had always find ways of pacifying despite that, the dastard act is yet to stop. The Unit, a branch of the Nigerian Police force under the criminal investigating (CID) was already reorganized in 2017 over similar organization.
As a result of the agitation on social media, the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Mohammed Adamu has banned the personnel of the FSARS and other Tactical Squads of the Force including the Special Tactical Squad (STS), Intelligence Response Team (IRT),Anti-Cultism Squad and other Tactical Squads operating at the Federal, Zonal and Command levels, from carrying out routine patrols and other conventional low-risk duties – stop and search duties, checkpoints, mounting of roadblocks, traffic checks, etc. – with immediate effect.
Adamu also added that no personnel of the Force is authorized to embark on patrols or tactical assignments in mufti. They must always appear in their police uniforms or approved tactical gear. The IGP’s directives come against the backdrop of findings by the leadership of the Force that a few personnel of the Tactical Squads hide under this guise to perpetrate all forms of illegality, contrary to the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), Code of Conduct and Rules of Engagement establishing the squads.
As a way of punishing officers who have been destroying the image of the Nigerian Police force, two operatives of the FSARS and their civilian accomplice operating in Lagos State, INSPR Sale James, INSPR Monday Uchiola and Okechukwu Ogbonna, have been arrested by the Lagos State Police Command, for acts of professional misconduct including extortion and intimidation of innocent citizens. The operational vehicle of the men has also been impounded and disciplinary procedure has already commenced against the defaulters.
Now that FSARS activities have been banned from routine patrols and other unholy activities, it is advisable that the Inspector General of Police should begin the overhauling process of the entire function of FSARS so that citizens can regain the lost confidence in their activities and also the entire Police force generally.
