Nigeria orders overhaul of notorious police unit

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‍Nigeria’s acting president has ordered the overhaul of a police unit following allegations of human rights violations, his spokesman said on Tuesday.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is temporarily head of state while President Muhammadu Buhari, who plans to stand for re-election, takes a 10-day holiday in Britain.

A flag of the Nigeria Police Force flies next to the Nigerian national flag at the Louis Edet House, headquarters of the police in Abuja, Nigeria, Dec. 5, 2017. /VCG Photo‍

Osinbajo instructed the head of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) to reform the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and ordered an independent investigation after “persistent complaints and reports” that bordered on “allegations of human rights violations,” a presidency statement said.

The unit – responsible for tackling serious crime such as armed robbery, kidnapping and cattle rustling – has been dogged by allegations of abuses for years, although the NPF has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

Following Osinbajo’s instruction, NPF chief Inspector General Ibrahim Idris “ordered the immediate overhauling” of the unit, which would have a new head and human rights desk officers, and be renamed the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS), the NPF said in a statement.

Assistant Commissioner of Police, Abayomi Shogunle, head of the Public Complaint Rapid Response Unit (PCRRU) shows a media campaign after an interview on the public's demand for the recall of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigerian Police in Abuja, Nigeria, Dec. 5, 2017. /VCG Photo‍

Last year, a social media campaign called for SARS to be disbanded as people shared stories, photographs and videos of alleged mistreatment.

The upper house of parliament voted in December 2017 to investigate SARS and, in the same month, Idris announced that the unit would be reorganized. The findings of the inquiry have yet to be announced.

Last week, Osinbajo fired Lawal Daura, head of the state security police, in the wake of a blockade of parliament by its agents.

On Tuesday, police detained a journalist for refusing to reveal the source of an article on a confidential letter from Idris to Osinbajo saying Daura had been behind the blockade, the reporter’s newspaper said.

(Cover: Nigeria's Vice President Yemi Osinbajo speaks during the Nigeria/Ecowas Trade and Investment for Development forum in Abuja, Nigeria, Nov. 2, 2017. /VCG Photo)

Source(s): Reuters