In Areas Where F-SARS Are Effective, We Should Allow Them Work – Fayemi

The Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Kayode Fayemi, says in places where F-SARS is effective, the people should allow them to work. 

Mr. Fayemi in a skype interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today said while he supports the youths’ protest against police brutality and asking for a police force that is accountable, it is pertinent to note that “in areas where F-SARS has been efficient and effective we should really allow them to continue to do the work”.

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The governor said there is nothing wrong with what the young people are doing, adding that they should be encouraged to ask more questions.

Fayemi noted that it is important the nation engages and gets to the bottom of all that is being agitated about at the moment.

He assured Nigerians that with the level of engagements that are going on in various quarters, those who have been found culpable of human rights abuses in the F-SARS unit will be brought to book.

SARS helps some states to fight insecurity

Earlier in the day, the Northern Governors Forum called for the reformation of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in the country.

Speaking during a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja, Chairman of the Forum and Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong, said SARS operatives helped the northern region tackle insecurity in some states.

“As SARS is banned, we are now looking forward to an opinion because most of the states in the north said no,” he said.

“They want SARS because SARS help them. A lot of SARS people help them. Borno Said if not SARS, WE would not have been surviving today, Niger and almost all parts.

“If we are addressing it like that, what is going wrong in some places? Is it the process of recruitment? Is it the character of people?”

While noting that his colleagues in the region want the entire police architecture to be reformed, the governor said states like Borno and Niger have benefitted from the efforts of SARS operatives in fighting terrorism and banditry.

On Sunday, the IGP announced the disbandment of SARS following nationwide protests against police brutality by the unit.

Thousands of protesters across the country have been protesting for over a week against the harassment, extortion, and extrajudicial killings perpetrated by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigeria Police Force.

The police authorities in response to the outcry of the protesters disbanded the SARS unit and announced the setting up of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) unit as its replacement but the protests and demonstrations continue nationwide with hashtags #EndSWAT, #EndSARS, #EndPoliceBrutality dominating social media trends.