#EndSars, not the end

The Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Nigeria Police Force otherwise known as SARS is hereby dissolved in all the 36 State Police Commands and the Federal Capital Territory,” Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Adamu announced on October 11 following intense nationwide protests, tagged #ENDSARS, against the unit  set up to tackle armed robbery and kidnapping.

The outfit, well known for its brutality and abuse of power, had been branded as an enemy of the people and an instrument of oppression. There are too many scandalous stories and videos of members of SARS involved in “kidnapping, murder, theft, rape, torture, unlawful arrests, high-handedness, humiliation, unlawful detention, extrajudicial killings, and extortion.”

What will change now that the notorious SARS has been scrapped? It would be excessively optimistic to think that the dissolution of the controversial squad would bring the excesses of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) to an end.

SARS had been a problem for years. As Acting IGP in January 2019, Adamu had reorganised the federal squad, announcing a new arrangement with a Special Anti-Robbery Squad domiciled in each of the 36 states under the direct supervision of the Commissioners of Police.

However, decentralising Federal SARS wasn’t enough.  Findings of the Presidential Panel on the Reform of SARS had shown that there was a need to sanitise the squad’s operations. For instance, members of the panel said they saw detainees with scars and serious injuries, “which the detainees made us understand were as a result of torture.”  The panellists also observed that the detainees “were kept in cells that were overcrowded and stinking, and had inadequate access to food and healthcare.”

was clear that restructuring could not improve the operations of SARS without a fundamental reorientation.  So it was just a matter of time before the people fought back with greater intensity, which resulted in the death of SARS.

But this is one death that may be reversed through a resurrection in another form. The IGP said officers and men serving in the unit would be redeployed, and new policing arrangements to tackle armed robbery and other violent crimes would be announced in due course.

So the old violators of human rights and oppressors of the people will only be dressed in different robes. They will remain what they are without mind renewal based on a sense of professionalism. Indeed, SARS’ successor may be worse.

It is noteworthy that the sins of SARS were not restricted to the unit, and can be found among policemen outside the squad, perhaps to a lesser degree. This means that the dissolution of SARS is a simplistic solution to a hard problem.

The problem should be treated holistically.  The police need a reorientation, among other crucial reforms.