Former IGP warns against banning SARS

A former Inspector-General of Police, Mike Okiro, has warned against a ban being placed on the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).

The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu on October 4 banned the personnel of the FSARS and other tactical squads of the force from routine patrols, following an outcry by Nigerians over the operations of the unit.

But Mr Okiro in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja, said the unit has deviated from its primary goal of intercepting armed robbery operations. .
“Members of the SARS are doing things that are different from their training.

Read also: #ENDSARS: Lagos Police Commissioner issues fresh directives to operatives

“The police management should go to the drawing board and retrain personnel of the SARS as it will be counter-productive to disband them.

The former IGP advised that the unit be reformed and refocused.

“You cannot throw away the baby with the bathwater, if they have deviated from what they were established for they should be retrained and refocused,“ he said.

“Armed robbers will be happy that there is no more SARS in the country but are Nigerians ready for that?” he asked.

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