What Nigerians want is wholesale reform
THE #ENDSARS campaign that swept through the country most of last year appears to be yielding fruit, at last. Barely 24 hours after Acting President Yemi Osinbajo ordered the Inspector- General of Police (IGP) to reform the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) that several of its officers and men had been involved in brutalisation of hapless citizens over the years, the IGP rolled out new measures that he deemed would transform the squad.
The 11-point agenda includes a change of name to Federal Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS). The reorganisation will see the squad headed by a commissioner of police under the supervision of the deputy inspector-general in charge of operations. The arm of police is no longer empowered to detain, and is to report directly, in the states, to the commissioner in charge of the state command. Civil society groups are to partner with the police in putting a check on the squad’s possible excesses, while telephone numbers of those who could rein in the officers and men are published.
These are laudable measures if they are carried out sincerely. We hope the Federal Government would not leave the supervision to the IGP’s X-Squad. The presidency should constantly take interest in its operations by putting in place a feedback mechanism from the general public.
Training is a very important component of the reform. The training currently at the Police College in Lagos, and the Kano-based Police Academy is apparently inadequate. Collaboration with foreign police training institutions is urgently needed to check the spate of armed robbery and kidnapping in the country.
We agree with Professor Osinbajo that basing investigation of crimes on the barbaric torturing of suspects is unacceptable in the 21st Century. The Nigeria Police Force has to step up its intelligence unit. Modern investigation and the consequent prosecution of suspects are, the world over, based on gathering of intelligence. To make a success of this, the police force must partner with the public. At the moment, the contention that “the police is your friend” is glib. Most Nigerians see the police as a relic of the colonial authorities.
But it is not enough to blame SARS and the entire police force for the flaws. The men are exposed to danger without adequate protection and equipment. If the public perception is to change, relying on the military to arrest all forms of unrest must stop, and this can only be done when the reform is taken beyond the new name, uniform and kit. Taking the FSARS off the streets and elevating their operation beyond “stop and search” will necessitate adequate deployment of technology in all nooks and crannies of the country. It also entails collaboration with sister security agencies.
It is gladdening that the reorganisation of SARS is being undertaken at a time the National Economic Council has decided to decentralise and reform the police force. We hope the appointment of the Inspector-General of Police as head of the panel saddled with the task will not stand in the way. As head of the force as constituted at the moment, the IGP is not in the best position to handle the assignment.
Crimes generally, and armed robbery specifically, have turned Nigeria into the Hobbesian state of nature where life is short and brutish. They must be tackled headlong without subjecting Nigerians to sub-human treatment. SARS or FSARS, a change of name is too cosmetic to tame the monster that the anti-robbery squad has become. A wholesale reform is not what the IGP alone can come up with immediately. So, the Police Service Commission, Police Council and Ministry of Interior should be brought into designing a new body to combat the crimes.
