Following the massive campaign, Inspector General of Police Ibrahim Idris promised to restructure and reposition the unit. Police spokesman Jimoh Moshood said to end SARS was to leave the field open for armed robbers to operate freely.
In Abuja, Awka, the Anambra State capital, and Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, protests erupted yesterday.
In Abuja, the Concerned Men and Women Association of Nigeria, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), rejected the call for the SARS to be disbanded.
The coordinator of the association, Alhaji Sanusi Ajiya, said Nigerians do not support scrapping the unit.
Ajiya said instead of calling for the scrapping of the unit, Nigerians should seek its restructuring and monitoring of its activities.
“The recent campaign in the social media calling for the scrapping of the SARS is not in the interest of Nigerians,” he said.
But a coalition of civil society groups issued a 21-day ultimatum for the scrapping of the SARS, “failing which we will be compelled to resort to other measures to embarrass them (government) into taking action.”The #EndSARS coalition which staged a protest at the Unity Fountain, Abuja, also demanded the investigation of various allegations against operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad and prosecution of indicted personnel.
The convener of the protest, Segun Awosanya said: “We demand thorough investigations into complaints filed against SARS officers. We demand that such officers be identified and immediately brought to justice. In some cases, we will provide video and pictorial evidence against officers who have been seen to be involved in such acts of brutality and extortion.”
”We give the authorities 21 days within which to meet these demands, failing which we will be compelled to resort to other measures to embarrass them into taking action.”
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