On Tuesday the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) has applauded the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu, for banning the operations of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS).
The Chairman of NGF, Dr Kayode Fayemi, in a statement issued in Abuja, demanded appropriate sanctions against law enforcement officers who had become lawless while exercising their duties against ordinary Nigerians.
Gov. Fayemi stated that the governors received the ban of SARS with great relief.
The governors supported the directive of the IGP that no personnel of the Force is permitted to embark on patrols or tactical assignments in mufti henceforth.
Part of the statement reads: “This will significantly reduce the various infractions of the Force that ordinary Nigerians have been complained about.
“We also believe this will bring an end to the menace of SARS brutality on the people they are meant to protect.
Fayemi noted that the IGP’s directive came at a better time when majority of Nigerians are unhappy with this group of police personnel who have engaged in unlawful killings and harassment, thereby giving the Force a bad name.
“It is helpful to recall that SARS has been cautioned for the same behaviour before, only for it to go back to its old ways.
“Our young people should not be criminalized simply on account of how they look or their mode of dressing or the cars they drive, the type of phones they carry, etc. This is an assault on their fundamental human rights.
“We think this is a timely clinical response by the leadership of the Nigerian Police Force and I must commend IGP Adamu for his promptness and boldness,” the statement added.
Fayemi hoped that the announcement would promptly be followed by action and that there would be no reversal.
