FSARS - SAFETY OR THREAT TO THE CITIZENS?

The Special Anti-Robbery Squad, popularly called SARS, has been a thorn in the flesh of many Nigerian youths, especially young males, who are into technology related occupations. 

Currently, there is a  protest going on in some parts of the country. Young persons have stormed major cities - Lagos, Owerri,Enugu, Ibadan, Portharcourt,Wariri, Benin city, Kaduna and the Federal capital territory, Abuja to express their distaste about the police unit's style of duty across the country in the last few months. 

 

The protest, which started from the micro blogging site, Twitter, with the hashtag #ENDSARS, has attracted a lot of international and local celebrities, who have shown support and solidarity with the Nigerian youths in their agitation for the dissolution of the police unit. 

A number of questions are being asked as to who and what SARS is and their modus operandi. 

What is SARS?

The Unit of Police was founded in the year 1992 by Simeon Danladi Midenda, the then commissioner of Police,Lagos State. The special anti-robbery squad was founded following the high crime rate in the city of Lagos, preceeded by the illegal killing of Colonel Rindam of the Nigerian Army during a stop and search at a police checkpoint in Lagos by some men of the Police force. It was reported that the Nigerian Police killed the Colonel and this led to a fracas between the Nigerian Army and the Police force: many soldiers stormed the streets of Lagos to search for the killer-police officers and due to this, a number of police officers fled the state while some resigned from their duties as officers of the Nigerian police force. And as we all know, where there is no security, there will be  high rate of criminal activities and vices. Hence, robbery and kidnappings increased within the period of two weeks that the police ceased to operate in the economic capital of the country. This, then, led to the founding of SARS. 

This unit of the police started with a fifteen-man panel, in which they operated without uniforms, like the conventional police. Midenda set up the team to monitor the police radio chatters and worked under the shadow of Nigeria Police Force oblivious of the Nigerian Army. This was more like an undercover police to monitor criminal activities and vices committed by miscreants in the city of Lagos. 

However, after the ceasefire between the Nigerian army and the Nigerian Police Force, the Special Anti-robbery Squad was officially commissioned and integrated into the fourteen units of the Police. 

It's Twenty-Eight years since the creation of SARS: What has changed?

It is clear, that the Nigeria Police Force is full of trigger-happy personnel, who have quite short memories and are same old wine in new skin. It's been twenty eight years since SARS was founded, since the killing of an army colonel by the police, but nothing seems to have changed, rather, many have lost their lives to the incessant and extra judicial killings by men of the Police Force. 

Sadly, the SARS Operatives are not, actually, working in line with the modus operandi it was set up for. In the last decade, many attoricities have been committed under the guise of safeguarding the society by the operatives of SARS. From extortion, force invasion, raping,  to killing of innocent citizens across the country. 

Based on statistics, more than 20 persons have been killed since 2015 that till date and the government seems deaf to the cries of the masses. 

In 2017, a virtual protest started on Twitter, with the hashtag #ENDSARS by Ṣẹgun Awosanya, the protest convener, whom many youngsters presume as the "saviour" from the claws of SARS, whenever they were apprehended by men of the SARS.  

The protests, however, became an organic one, when a Remo All Stars footballer, Tiamiyu Kazeem, otherwise called Kaka was pushed out of a moving vehicle and ran over by another oncoming vehicle on a highway in Sagamu by men of the SARS after the former refused to comply with the officers on February 24, 2020. A major protest was staged in the town demanding the arrest of the officers who killed the footballer. The SARS, after the intervention of the former governor of the State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel and the Paramount ruler of Remo, Oba Adewale Ajayi, the SARS were made  to vacate the town. 

On October 8, the #5for5 #ENDSARS protest began physically (watch video) with the starting point in Lagos, led by singer and EndSars activists, Folarin Falana - Falz -, Kate Henshaw, Kiki Mordi, Timi Dakolo and Aisha Yesufu, the Bring back our girls convener, in Abuja, . The protest that was scheduled to last for five days for the demands of the people to be met by the government has been persistent both physically and virtually (citizen agitation) across the country with solidarity from  international celebrities like Cardi B, Kanye West, Treysong, Drake, Pastor T.D Jakes  and international media like CNN, BBC, Aljazeera et al. 

The protest which was projected to be a peaceful one was disrupted by the men of the Nigerian Police Force at Surulere area of Lagos, where unarmed civilians were shot at in the bid to  disperse the crowd at the metropolitan city. This, further, led to more protests springing up in different parts of the country.  However, in the midst of the chaos and unrest going on in various parts of the country, the President, President Muhammadu Buhari,  has only addressed the citizens once without much actions from the presidency. 

Since the protests began, an online group, tagged "Feminist Coalition", has formed a fundraiser to fund the protest in different parts of the country, ranging from provision of food, water, medicals, legal supports for arrested protesters and other protest materials. However, the Central Bank of Nigeria stopped the Flutter wave account and donations were stopped to the accounts. Little did the apex financial institution know that, the world has been digitised as the group - feminist coalition - opened a Bitcoin donations wallet. And the founder of Twitter, Jack, equally supports the movement by posting the donations account on his personal Twitter handle. The Feminist coalition, for the purpose of transparency, post a frequent online breakdown of disbursement of funds generated from time to time in their social media platforms. 

More so, the general overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor E. A. Adeboye, also lends his voice by showing support for the movement, by tweeting and using the #ENDSARS #ENDPOLICEBRUTALITY. 

On the other hand, while protests are going on in different parts of the country, a group of young persons in Kano, Bauchi and Abuja have called for the "Pro-police" supports, vandalising and disrupting protests in the capital city of Abuja.