#SARSMustEnd Protest: Not All Police Officers Are SARS Operatives – FG

The Personal Assistant on New Media to President Muhammadu Buhari, Bashir Ahmed has come out to say that Nigeria does not need an executive order to dissolve the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).

Bashir Ahmed recently revealed that the defunct SARS was a unit of the Police and an administrative creation of the IG of Police, so FG cannot interfere since it was not created by any executive order or legislative act.

According to him, SARS is no more as it has been completely dissolved, so Nigerians should know that not all Police Officers they see nowadays are SARS operatives.

He added that all the defunct SARS operatives are police officers, but not every police officer are SARS operatives since the unit ceased to exist yesterday.

His words, “The defunct SARS was a unit of the Police, it was an administrative creation of the IG of Police, not created by any executive order or legislative act. We actually don’t need an executive order to fully disband the unit when the IGP with full authority has already disbanded it.”

“The SARS is no more, fully dissolved which made it a thing of the past. The defunct Police unit ended immediately the IGP made the announcement of its total dissolution. #EndSARS”

“We should understand that not all Police officers are SARS operatives, I understand the genuine concerns, and the President has said it earlier the disbanding of SARS is only the first step in government’s commitment to extensive Police reform, and that is what we really need.

“All the defunct SARS operatives are police officers, but not all the police officers are SARS operatives. The SARS was a unit of the Nigeria Police Force, and the unit was dissolved yesterday. SARS doesn’t exist now. #EndSARS”.

What do you think?

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.