JOE Abah, a former Director-General of the Bureau of Public Service Reform (BPSR) has advocated that members of the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) unit of the Nigeria Police Force should undergo a psychological evaluation.
“Now SARS has been dissolved and the first stage of #EndSARS achieved, we can now discuss reforms,” Abah wrote on Twitter.
“All the officers from the dissolved SARS would need to undergo a psychiatric evaluation before being deployed anywhere else. Anyone unfit or with a record of abuse should be sacked.”
Describing the dissolution as the first stage of popular demands made by Nigerians, Abah noted that reforming the Police as a whole should be a subject of public discourse.
In the Twitter message in which he was reacting to the dissolution of the SARS unit by Mohammed Adamu, the Inspector General of Police, he added that all policemen found unfit or found with any record of human rights abuse should be sacked.
He was particularly interested in the psychological evaluation of the SARS team members before being posted to any other unit.
Mohammed Adamu, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) had on Sunday announced the disbandment of the dreaded SARS unit, noting that the decision was taken to satisfy the yearnings of Nigerians and observers.
“The SARS is hereby dissolved across all formations in 36 states, police commands and the FCT where they currently exist. All officers currently serving in the unit are to be deployed with immediate effects,” Adamu said during a briefing in Abuja.
The disbandment of SARS came after days of wide agitations and multiple protests across states in the country.
Some of the protesters had spent nights at notable government offices, State Assemblies, official residences of public office holders among other locations to criticise several criminal activities perpetrated by the scraped SARS operatives.
In the process, Jimoh Isiaq, a protester in Ogbomoso, Oyo State, was shot dead, an action that further intensified the protests.
The dissolution, Adamu noted was with effect immediately across the 36 states including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) while officers of the SARS unit were being redeployed.
“In the finest spirit of democratic, citizen-centred and community policing, the IGP M.A Adamu, has today, 11 October 2020, dissolved the SARS across the 36 State Police Commands and the FCT where they hitherto existed.”
Nigerians had accused members of the disbanded SARS unit of kidnappings, extortions, violations of human rights, arbitrary killings among other related offences.
“The Force is not oblivious of the ever-present need to combat armed robbery, kidnapping and other violent crimes in the country which was before now the core mandate of the erstwhile Squad,” the IGP added.
He, however, disclosed plans to set up a special forum to prevent likely re-occurrence of incidents that led to SARS dissolution.
According to Adamu, the Citizens and Strategic Stakeholders Forum would always interface with the top echelon of the force at all levels.
An investigation team comprising Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and Human Rights group would as well help probe suspected cases of human rights violations.
“The measure…will enhance transparency and accountability in police services as well as providing a system of deterrence for erring police officers whose action clearly violates the rights of the citizenry,” he noted.
Olugbenga heads the Investigations Desk at The ICIR. Do you have a scoop? Shoot him an email at oadanikin@icirnigeria.org. Twitter Handle: @OluAdanikin