CYRIACUS IZUEKWE

There had been unusual calm at the various Police Divisions and Area Commands over the campaign by some Nigerians  demanding for the scrapping for  the dreaded Special Anti-Robbery Squad popularly known as SARS.

P.M.EXPRESS reports that some of the Police Divisions and Area Commands were tactically avoiding the operations of SARS in their various divisions and commands across the states.
It was gathered that some States Commands who created their own SARS were now at a loss on what to do with the officers already demobilized by the instruction of the IGP.

The IGP had ordered that State Commands who created their own SARS should immediately disband the unit. The IGP said it was only the FSARS that will remain and will be reorganised to meet up with the expectations of the public under a democratic setting.

Some of the senior officers who spoke to P.M.EXPRESS said there was really genuine concern over the activities of SARS but added that those who were clamouring for total ban went too far. The officers noted that there were bad eggs among the SARS operatives and what was needed was to reorganise them and remove the bad eggs.

A top ranking officer said that if those boys (SARS) were outrightly banned, the society will suffer more because some of them may become armed robbers because they may not be able to cope with normal police work thereby increasing the number of criminals in the process.

The officer explained that what was needed was to curb the activities of SARS and to embark on serious monitoring and control because of their excesses.

Another top officer said it was nemesis that was playing out after the society had tolerated SARS over the years. He revealed that some of the SARS operatives behave as if they were superior to other officers and sometimes do not obey instructions from their seniors in the force.

The officer said that it was a rude shock for the SARS operatives when the campaign started and some of them thought it was not possible. But when some of the elites began to join the campaign including members of the National Assembly, governors and others,it was then it become obvious to them that their job was under serious threat.

P.M.EXPRESS gathered that following the campaign that has gained momentum, the officers seemed to be fighting hard to retain their jobs. This has culminated in having pro and anti SARS campaigns going on across the states.

Some Nigerians believed that if SARS were no longer operational, the robbers will take over and cause more security problem. However, majority of the people want SARS to be scrapped or totally reorganised as the IGP had earlier said.

Meanwhile, it has been reported that some of the State SARS operatives have changed their uniforms to reflect FSARS in order to continue their illegal operations which had dented the image of the unit.