The Nigerian Inspector General of Police ,”IGP M.A Adamu has dissolved the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) across the 36 State Police Commands and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT),” police spokesman Frank Mba said.
“All the SARS officers across the states are being redeployed with immediate effect, Mba stated.”
This follows weeks of protests by Nigerians of their brutality and demanding the end to police violence in the country.
However, even as the protesters has received the news, they vowed to continue marching in demands to end police brutality in all forms and make brute officers amenable.
Before the decision to disband SARS was declared, one man died and several others who were protesting injured as police in Nigeria fired live ammunition and tear gas on the young people during the protest to the unit.
“I have received with deep sadness the news of the passing of one of our children, Jimoh Isiaka, who was shot during the ENDSARS protest in Ogbomoso,” Makinde said on Saturday. “He later died at Bowen University Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso…” he added in the Twitter statement.
Five others too were also injured in the state and taken to hospital, according to the governor.
Protesters in Nigeria’s capital Abuja also reported that police were using water cannons and firing live ammunition during a march on Sunday afternoon.
The nationwide protests were to express their dislikes to the SARS brutality and climax of weeks of anger and outcry online by the country’s young people over claims of kidnapping, harassment, murder, and extortion by SARS.
The hashtag #EndSars has been a trend worldwide since Friday and the people in Nigeria have been using it to share videos and images of police using water cannons and tear gas to disperse protesters.
One woman who was at the Abuja march Saturday, where tear gas was also used said that the protesters were protesting peacefully until police started firing at them.
Ndi Kato, 31, said: “No one threw anything or did anything wrong. No one was being belligerent, but the police kept threatening us.”
Solidarity protests also took place on Sunday at the United Kingdom, led by the actor John Boyega, and in Washington DC, in the United States. Both countries have large Nigerian immigrant populations.
Amnesty International said it has documented 82 cases of police brutality in Nigeria between 2017 and 2020.
People detained by SARS have suffered torture methods including hanging, mock execution and sexual violence, according to Amnesty.
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Great article by Okoe Yeboah Foster