#EndSARS: SARS no longer allowed to conduct stop and search
Ibrahim Idris, the Inspector-General of Police, has banned the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigeria Police Force from conducting stop and search operations. They are only allowed to do such in necessary situations.
NAN reports that the Inspector- General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, has promised to restructure and reposition the unit for effective service delivery.
Idris also warned that members of the unit must only go on operations on the permission of the commissioner of police in charge of SARS in the police commands.
“You must operate in official uniform clearly marked for identification. I just want to warn you all here that any officer caught engaging in these activities will be dealt with accordingly. The Nigeria Police force under my leadership shall operate strictly guided by the human rights principles as enshrined in the United Nations charter on human rights” he said.
He mandated the Inspector-General of police’s monitoring units and the X-squad and other oversights unit of the force to monitor the activities of the SARS. The police boss noted that the establishment of the unit was due to activities of the men of the underworld.
He said that as part of measures to check the unit, they would be solely mandated to confront only armed robbery cases and violent crimes in the country, Idris also said that men deployed to SARS would undergo training, continuous assessment and psychometric test to determine their suitability or otherwise.