After days of protests against police brutality, authorities say all SARS officers will be redeployed to other police commands, formations and units.
Nigeria’s police chief has announced the dissolution of a notorious anti-robbery unit following days of widespread protests against police brutality.
The Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) has long been accused of harassment, unlawful arrests, torture and even murders. Thousands of people marched across the country this week to demand it be disbanded, while #EndSARS trended online in Nigeria for several days.
In a statement on Sunday, Muhammed Adamu, inspector general of police, said the unit had been abolished “with immediate effect”, a move that was “in response to the yearnings of the Nigerian people”. He added, however, that all SARS officers would be redeployed to other police commands, formations and units.
Adamu also said the Nigerian police force would work with human rights groups and civil society organisations to investigate cases of alleged human rights violations.
The latest demonstrations calling for the dissolution of SARS, which was founded in 1992 in a bid to combat robbery, erupted after a video circulated last week alleging to show members of the unit shooting dead a man in the southern Delta state.
Source: Aljazeerah
