Breaking New: Following Osinbajo's order, IGP overhauls SARS; appoints commissioner as new head
- The Nigeria police has responded swiftly to
Acting President Osinbajo's order to overhaul SARS
- The IGP in compliance with the order said the
police outfit will now be known as Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (F-SARS)
- He also stated that a new commissioner of
police has been appointed as the overhaul head if the F-SARS nationwide
Following the Acting President Yemi Osinbajo's order that the Special
Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) be overhauled, the inspector general of police,
Ibrahim Idris, has come with a new arrangement to address complaints and
allegations on human rights violations against some of the personnel of the
special operatives.
According to a statement released in the
evening of Tuesday, August 14, by Ag. DCP Jimoh Moshood, the force public relations
officer, the police chief has appointed a new commissioner of police as the
overall head of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad nationwide. Read the
full statement below: Re-Presidential directive on immediate overhaul of
Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS)
- IGP in compliance with the presidential
directive has ordered immediate overhauling of Special Anti-Robbery Squad
(SARS) across the country
- The outfit will now be known as Federal
Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS). All SARS teams nationwide have been
collapsed under FSARS
- A new
commisioner of police has been appointed as the overhaul head of the Federal
Special Anti-Robbery Squad nationwide.
1"The Inspector General of Police in
compliance with the Presidential directives has ordered the immediate
overhauling of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) to address complaints and
allegations on human rights violations against some of the personnel of Special
Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) from members of the public in some parts of the
Country.”
2. In the new arrangement, a new commissioner
of police has been appointed as the overall head of the Federal Special
Anti-Robbery Squad nationwide.
3. The Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad
previously under the Force Criminal Intelligence and Investigations Department
(FCIID) is henceforth to operate under the Department of Operations, Force
Headquarters Abuja. The commissioner of police (FSARS) is answerable to the
inspector general of police through the deputy inspector general of police,
Department of Operations.
4. In observance of full compliance with the
presidential directives, the Federal Anti-Robbery Squad will be intelligence
driven and will be restricted to the prevention and detection of Armed Robbery,
kidnapping and the apprehension of offenders linked to the stated offences
only.
5. New FSARS commanders are being appointed for
the Federal Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS) across the country that will now exist
and operate in the state and Zonal Commands under the commissioner of police
(F-SARS) at the Force Headquarters, Abuja. A federal SARS commander of a Rank
of Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) but not below Superintendent of Police
(SP) will be in charge of FSARS in State and Zonal Commands across the country.
6. All commissioners of police have been
directed by the inspector general of police to comply with this directive with
immediate effect and warn their personnel not to pose as SARS operatives. The
IGP X-Squad and Monitoring Unit have been mandated to go round the Commands and
Police Formations nationwide to ensure strict compliance with the Presidential
directives and apprehend any erring police officer.
7. A new Standard Operational Guidelines and
Procedures, and code of conduct for all FSARS personnel to ensure that the
operations of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad is in strict adherence to
the rule of law and with due regards to international human rights law and
constitutionally guaranteed rights of suspects will be enforced in totality by
the commissioner of police, FSARS. Other measures to be implemented by the
Force in observance of full compliance with the presidential directives are as
follows:
i. Human Rights Desk Officers for FSARS in
every State to take complaints from the public and forward same to Force
Headquarters, the officer will be answerable to the commissioner of police,
FSARS at the Force Headquarters and not Commander FSARS in the states.
ii. Medical/Psychological evaluation of all
FSARS personnel will be carried out immediately.
iii. Redesigning of new uniform with identity
name tag for all FSARS personnel throughout the Country will be done
immediately.
iv. Henceforth, FSARS personnel will not
perform Stop and Search duties except on distress call to respond to armed
robbery and kidnapping offences only.
8. The Force will be transparent, cooperate,
and work cordially with the National Human Right Commission on the special
panel that will conduct an investigation of the alleged unlawful activities of
FSARS to address grievances from the public against the personnel of FSARS in
compliance with the presidential directives.
9. Furthermore, a new training program to be
organized by the Force in collaboration with some Civil Society Organizations
(CSOs), Local and International NGOs, and other Human Rights Organizations on
core Police Duties, Observant of Human Rights and Handling, Care and Custody of
Suspects have been directed by the Inspector General of Police for all Federal
SARS personnel nationwide with immediate effect.
10. A committee of Senior Police officers,
Technical Consultants, Human Rights/Civil Society organizations (CSOs) has been
setup to review the activities of FSARS under the new arrangement. They are to
pay unscheduled visits to FSARS formations across the country with particular
attention to States with high complaints index, to assess facilities and
situations in these States and submit report to the inspector general of police
on regular basis.
11. However, aggrieved members of the public
who have any complaint in the past or present of violation of their rights by
any Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) personnel anywhere in the country are to
report through any of the following channels for investigation and redress.
i. DIG, Department of Operations: 08037025670
ii. IGP X-SQUAD 0902 690 0729, 08078662130,
08174041000 – CALLS 0903 227 8905 – SMS 0903 562 1377 – WhatsApp Email: integrityxsquad@gmail.com
iii. IGP Monitoring Unit: igpmonotoringabj@yahoo.com,
08036242591
iv. Commissioner of Police, FSARS: 08033476852
v. FORCE PUBLIC COMPLAINT BUREAU 07056792065
Calls/SMS/whatsapp 08088450152 Calls/SMS/whatsapp Email: bailisfree@gmail.com,
pressforabuja@gmail.com Twitter: @PoliceNG www.facebook.com/ngpolice
vi. PUBLIC COMPLAINT RAPID RESPONSE UNIT
(PCRRU) 08057000001 – Calls Only 08057000002 – Calls Only 08057000003 – SMS
& WhatsApp only Twitter: @PoliceNG_PCRRU www.facebook.com/PolicePCRRU
NGOs/CSOs
vii. sega@aliensmedialtd.com, 08027757359
viii. koredebello@caspertainment.agency,
casperentertainment@gmail.com, 09051133035 ix. oluogunsakin@hotmail.com x.
g.writer2011@gmail.com, 07037887630
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