Labour hails Buhari for scrapping SARS

The Organised Labour yesterday joined other Nigerians to commend President Muhammadu Buhari for dissolving the dreaded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). This is just as it called on Nigerian youths to avoid any form of violence in the ongoing nation-wide protests against police brutality.              
The workers under  the aegis of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), noted that the announcement on Sunday 11th October 2020 by the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, to the effect that the much-criticized SARS has been scrapped really poured balm on the frayed nerves of millions of Nigerians.
The ASCSN President, Bola-Audu Innocent and the Secretary-General, Alade Bashir Lawal, in a statement said the disbanding of SARS by the Federal Government following mass protests by the youths and civil society groups across the country demonstrated clearly that President Buhari listens to the cries of the people.        
“This is why we commend Mr. President for bringing to an end the ugly saga of SARS and accordingly urge the youths to make the ongoing nation-wide agitations violence free so as not to defeat the purpose for which the protests are being carried out,” the union stated.                  According to the ASCSN, some of the accusations against SARS by the protesters include the claims that the outfit indulged in extra-judicial killings, detention of citizens without trial, extortion, and other acts of human rights violations.    
It recommended that in view of the noticeable shortcomings of SARS, the new policing arrangement being worked out by the Federal Government to replace SARS should be structured in a manner that would make it acceptable to Nigerians.  
The union added that the Police reforms promised by the president should be holistic in nature so as to ensure that the allegations levelled against SARS do not find their ways into the Police Force through another guise.
“We also wish to strongly advise that officers and men that will be deployed to the new Unit should be exposed to constant training and retraining especially on modern policing methods including how to relate and treat the citizens with civility and refrain from acting in manners that tend to suggest that they are out to cow, oppress, and humiliate the populace.                    
“In this connection, we believe that officers and men of the police force who have served for at least 10 years should be the ones to be seconded to the new Unit to be created since this crop of officers, over the years, have gone through the mills and in the process learnt how to relate with the civilian population without causing constant conflicts with members of the public,” the union emphasized.         
It also canvassed the need for the new unit to have the functional mode of monitoring, evaluation and enforcement required of a Police unit that deals with the public on daily basis.
The Union equally supports the creation of complaints Bureau and Strategic Stakeholders Forum as a regular platform to receive complaints on line on the activities of police officers since that would go a long way to minimize frictions and restore confidence of the citizens in the policing system in the country.    
It stated further, “It is also our hope that the planned investigative team that will be an arm of the new policing arrangement will respond promptly to complaints and carry out thorough investigation while officers found culpable will be brought to justice.    
“We have no doubt whatsoever that if these reforms are implemented, the new envisaged Police Unit to be saddled with combating violent crimes will meet the aspirations of Nigerians.”