Northern Governors Oppose Disbandment Of SARS

Governors of the 19 northern states have rejected the disbandment of the special anti-robbery squad (SARS) of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).

The position of Northern Governors on SARS is at varience with Youths on the Plateau who stormed Jos City on Thursday chanting anti SARS slogan and calling for total reforms in the Police Force .

On the other hand Chairman Northern Governors Forum Simon Lalong of Plateau said SARS as a police unit has been useful in the fight against insecurity in the region.

“SARS is not made up of bad elements alone as it also includes personnel who are  doing their work diligently,” he said.

Lalong said what is needed is the reformation of the unit to enable it to discharge its functions “optimally”.

It would be recalled that on Sunday, Mohammed Adamu,the inspector-general of police (IGP), announced the disbandment of SARS following nationwide protests against alleged human rights violations by the unit.

But the protests continued as the #EndSARS campaigners demanded the prosecution of all officers named in cases of rights abuses.

The protests have spread across the countryof and have persisted for day

However, while there is a strong momentum of the citizen action in the south of the country, there are mixed reactions in the northern parth of Nigeria.

The police leadership has promised reforms, setting up a new unit named — special weapons and tactics (SWAT) but Plateau Youths who stormed Jos City on Thursday told DailyIndependent that they have lost friends and relatives in parts of the country due to the Brutality of SARS and demanded for total reform in the Police.