Amnesty International’s Report Of Police Killing Protesters Is A Lie – Mohammed Adamu

The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu has come out to say that police officers conducted themselves well during the #EndSARS protests against police brutality in Nigeria.

This is coming after a report by human rights watchdog, Amnesty International, which alleged that police officers murdered peaceful protesters.

According to the IGP, the report is untrue, misleading, and contrary to all available empirical evidence, so it should not be taken seriously.

He added that police officers actually used legitimate means to ensure that the protests went on in a peaceful manner.

His words, “He (Adamu) reiterated that even when the protests turned violent in some parts of the country, the officers still maintained utmost restraint and did not use excessive force in managing the situations.”

“Despite these unprovoked attacks, our police officers never resorted to use of unlawful force or shooting at the protesters as alleged in the report.”

“One wonders if in the estimation of Amnesty International, police officers are not also human beings equally entitled to the protection of their fundamental rights to life and dignity of human person.”

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The Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) is a Nigerian Police Force unit under the Force Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department headed by the Deputy Inspector General of Police Anthony Ogbizi. Since 2012, SARS has come under controversy for being linked to acts of extortion, torture, framing and blackmail.

The Special Anti-Robbery Squad was founded in 1992 by former police commissioner Simeon Danladi Midenda. The major reason SARS was formed was when Col. Rindam, a Nigerian Army Colonel was killed by police officers at a checkpoint in Lagos.

SARS is one of the 14 units in the Force Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department which was established to detain, investigate and prosecute people involved in crimes like armed robbery, kidnapping and other forms of crimes.

During its formation the Special Anti-Robbery Squad was known to operate covertly. SARS operatives were not allowed to wear police uniform, publicly carry guns or have walkie-talkies. They were given unmarked vehicles with sometimes no license plates or private plate numbers during duty.