The man who set up the hated Nigerian police unit, SARS declares that he feels “sad” and “guilty” about what the agency has become.
“SARS of today is not the same Sars I established in 1984,” Fulani Kwajafa said. He said the unit had been “turned into banditry”.
He also explained that the code of conduct that he set up when creating SARS had ensured that there was “no incident with members of the public” when he was in charge. The former police boss accused the agency of “brutality” saying that the officer’s acts could have been driven by “greed.” “I always tell my wife that I was sad [that] what I created with good purpose and direction has been turned into banditry,”
Mr Kwajafa said, adding that he supported the disbandment of the unit “100%”.
Officers from the Special Anti Robbery Squad have been accused of committing extrajudicial killings and torture.
Meanwhile “SARS was established by me under the directive of the then IG, Mr. Inyang expressly to fight violent crimes such as armed robbery, kidnapping, anything violent. We never went for burglary cases, we didn’t go in for pick pocketing, market theft and such things, we don’t go there, it never belonged to us, local police stations are around, they handle that.
It was only crimes that involved killing, maiming; that was what SARS was established to handle. SARS is being misused now; they are misused for selfish interests, especially by politicians, but anyone calling for the scrapping of SARS doesn’t want this country to be in peace because SARS wherever it is, is supposed to operate in ways that instil fear into those violent criminals that terrorize law-abiding Nigerians.
SARS according to Kwajafa is meant for countering violent crimes, armed robbery and now, kidnapping and murder.
“When we established SARS, nobody was corrupt! When they give you information money N5,000, it is sufficient for one week. Petrol was N7 to fill a car’s tank so when you are going on operation and you are given N200, with three vehicles, it is sufficient. You get N300 for one week; you go on operation and come back with your independent mind. But the economic recession is forcing people to do all sorts, enabling some people to even buy the services of SARS, so the operation of SARS is misconstrued! People are taking undue advantage and black leg policemen sometimes submit themselves to carry out unlawful activities in the name of SARS”
President Muhammadu Buhari announced the disbandment of the agency this week after thousands of Nigerians took to the streets to protest against police brutality.
A new agency called SWAT has been formed to take over duties performed by Sars but this has also been rejected by the protesters. On the announcement of the new agency SWAT, Mr Kwajafa comments that the changes might be undermined if there’s no “change in mentality”.
The demonstrators have been using the hashtag #EndSars to push for their cause, which has since been endorsed by global celebrities such as Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, US rapper Kanye West, gospel singer Kirk Franklin, footballers Mesut Ozil and Marcus Rashford and Nigerian superstars Davido and Wizkid.
On Friday, Twitter launched a clenched fist emoji in a show of support for the protests.
