The President of Association of Industrial Security
and Safety Operators of Nigeria (AISSON), Dr. Ona Ekhomu has commended the Inspector-General
of Police (IGP), Mr. Ibrahim Idris on administrative and operational measures
announced to overhaul the special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) whose name had
become synonymous with human rights abuses, reports ITREALMS.
The prompt action, he said, by the IGP showed that
the government was responsive to the concerns and complaints of citizens.”
In a press release issued on Wednesday, Dr. Ekhomu said
that the new administrative measure which centralizes the SARS organization in
the office of the IGP was a mistaken strategy which will deepen lack of
accountability of the unit. He said the problem with SARS was not the
organizational structure but their excessively violent behavior which involved
brutality, torture, high-hardened extra-judicial murders and so on.
The security expert said that it was a “big mistake”
to relocate SARS from FCID to Operations Directorate. He said that SARS, as a
tactical/detective unit naturally and operationally resides in the
Investigations Directorate. Stressing “reform must be aimed at improving process
activities, service delivery, and quality of service but reform should never be
for its own sake” he noted.
Dr. Ekhomu said that the investigative strategy of
the Nigeria Police Force had been to cast SARS as the “bad cop” which was
designed to strike fear in the hearts of hardened criminals.
“However, due to
poor supervision and a culture of corruption, the squad went rogue - torturing,
maiming and killing as alleged by the #ENDSARS campaigners and Amnesty International”
he added.
According to Ekhomu, “the strong-arm tactics of SARS
has tainted the entire police force and created a gulf between the people and
the police agency. That is why people “fear” the police, and refuse to give
information that could help in solving crimes. Unfortunately, citizen trust and
co-operation are vital in effective policing.”
Ekhomu said that new administrative, programmatic
and technological means must be found to increase the effectiveness of SARS in
combating armed robbery and kidnapping as mandated by the Acting President,
Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.
The administrative means should go beyond redesign
of the SARS organogram, forensic psychiatry, issuance of ID cards to field
operatives, and opening of human rights desks. It should include robust risk
mitigation, background vetting of each SARS personnel, talent–spotting crack
detectives for SARS, training and retraining and security certification.
According to the security expert, programmatic means
should include inter-agency co-operation, community liaison (especially with traditional
rulers and other leaders), informant programs, reward programs, etc.
Ekhomu said that the directive from the acting
president Prof. Yemi Osinbajo to carry out intelligence-led policing meant that
Nigeria Police Force must invest in policing technologies to improve its
effectiveness. He said that the long awaited criminal database should be set up
to solve crimes.
He said that SARS detectives should now be trained
in crime scene forensics to enable the harnessing of the power of criminalistics
in crime fighting.
He said that the presidential mandate to overhaul
SARS provides an opportunity for a new beginning in crime fighting in the
country, he asked the NPF to seize opportunity to demonstrate that it is truly
a great agency.
Ayo Midele/GEE
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