Amnesty International (AI) has requested the Nigerian government to quickly investigate and prosecute police officers who have been accused of violating human rights.

The rights organisation made the request after the Nigerian police announced the dissolution of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) following days of widespread protests against police brutality.

SARS, a unit of the Nigeria Police Force specifically set up to fight robbery and kidnapping, has long been accused of harassment, unlawful arrests, torture and killings.

Videos shared recently on social media appear to show SARS operatives extorting money and even shooting people.

The hashtag #EndSARS was triggered by the alleged killing of a young man by SARS operatives in Lagos State on 03 October.

Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu, who announced the dissolution of the unit with immediate effect, noted that all SARS officers and men would be redeployed to other police commands, formations and units.

‘The IGP, while noting that the dissolution of SARS is in response to the yearnings of the Nigerian people, observes that by this dissolution, all officers and men of the now defunct Special Anti-robbery Squad are being redeployed with immediate effect’, a police statement read.

Also, the police said they will work with civil society organisations (CSOs) and rights defenders to investigate cases of alleged human rights violations.

‘The measure, the IGP believes, will enhance transparency and accountability in police services as well as providing a system of deterrence for erring police officers whose action clearly violates the rights of the citizenry’, the statement read.

However, AI, in its response to the dissolution of SARS, called on the police to conduct an immediate investigation and prosecution of all erring officers.

‘Today’s [11 October, 2020] announcement by the IGP disbanding the infamous SARS falls short of demands for accountability and justice for abuses committed by the unit and the police in general’, Amnesty International tweeted.

The organisation called for ‘immediate and unhindered access to SARS and other police detention centres by oversight bodies such as PSC, NHRC as well as lawyers and human rights defenders’.

Furthermore, the body, in a separate tweet, requested the Nigerian government to disclose the timeline for the implementation of the dissolution of the police unit.

Source: Amnesty International Nigeria

Photo source: News Central