Senator Isa Misau, Bauchi-APC, on Tuesday lent his voice to the trending social media outcry against the activities of the Nigeria Police Force’s Special Anti-robbery Squad, SARS. An hashtag #ENDSARS, calling for the scrapping of the police unit, trended on the social media over the weekend. Nigerians, who used the social media to recount their experiences with SARS operatives, listed allegations of extra-judicial killings, wanton arrests and dispossession of properties through physical assault and other intimidation tactics.
Presenting the issue as a point of order, Mr. Misau said SARS has grown out of the authority of state police commissioners who are supposed to regulate their activities. He said, “According to the Police Act and regulations, the force Criminal and Investigation and Intelligence, force CID, is the highest investigating arm of the Nigerian police. And for effective and efficient administration, the department is divided into 14 sections of which the Special Anti-robbery squad, SARS, is one of them. SARS is supposed to be a section in each state command criminal investigation department with sole responsibility of handling armed robbery cases and answerable to the state commissioner of Police.”
Relaying experiences of Nigerians in some of the petitions he received, the former cop hinged on dangers of keeping a unit of the police force which has placed itself above the law. Mr. Misau said the Senate must take a bold stand on the issue and end the operation of SARS. He prayed that the Senate set up a committee to investigate the allegations of human rights abuse by SARS. The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, noted that the issue should be given urgent attention as it affects many Nigerians. “I think it is clear that something wrong is going on and it needs urgent attention,” he said. The Senate referred the issue to the ad-hoc committee on security already set up.
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