Group kicks against proposed Police SWAT, reprimands IGP Mohammad Adamu

A group under the auspice of Association of South East Town Unions (ASETU), has kicked against moves by the Inspector General of Police, Mohammad Adamu to replace the much maligned Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) with the establishment of Special Weapons And Tactical Team, (SWAT).

The group in a statement on Friday signed by National President, Chief Emeka Diwe and made available to journalists in Umuahia, argued that the proposed SWAT was an antic by disgruntled officers in police hierarchy to shield men of the disbanded F-SARS from prosecution.

It further noted that SWAT cannot end police brutality on innocent citizens, emphasizing that the unveiled Special Weapons And Tactical Team, SWAT, was ill thought out and as well, an incentive to the escalation of violent crimes in Nigeria.

READ ALSO: Governors fault timing of SWAT formation, urge IGP to shelve plan

The statement by the group reads thus in full; “The manner that the so-called disbandment of SARS has been done appears more like a political action instead of a comprehensive security measure. Nobody is in doubt that there is need for a unit of the police which should specialize in combating high-risk crimes like armed robbery. This is the tradition the world over.

“However, the action of the IGP in dissolving SARS without first raising and training a new dedicated unit to combat violent crimes has created a security lacuna of extremely dangerous proportions.

“What will be the fate of Nigerians between now and when the IGP will eventually come up with a new policing arrangement to address the issue of armed robbery. Our contention is that the scrapping of SARS, which has been done without first addressing the fundamental questions of abuse and brutality, seems engineered from above to give a soft landing to a notorious gang of untrained policemen who have serially killed, robbed and maimed Nigerians,” the statement concluded.

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