SARS disbandment created huge vacuum in fight against insecurity – IGP

The Acting Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, said on Thursday the disbandment of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) created a huge vacuum in the police efforts at fighting insecurity in the country.

Baba disclosed this at the weekly Ministerial briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The former Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, disbanded the SARS following the #ENDSARS protest in October last year.

The police authorities later established the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) to replace the disbanded SARS.

READ ALSO: SARS disbandment only first step to police reforms —Buhari

Baba said the morale of the police operatives had been dampened by the #ENDSARS protest and recent attacks on personnel and formations in the South-East.

He said regular police officers had been unable to immediately fill the vacuum created by the SARS disbandment despite efforts to train them for the new role.

He insisted that the police had recorded success in the fight against secessionists and criminals in the South-East region but they cannot be prosecuted because of the ongoing strike by judicial workers in the country.

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