#EndSARS Protests Are Politically Motivated – AYCF

The Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, AYCF, has carpeted the #EndSARS protesters across the country saying that the loud calls are politically motivated.

Reacting to the protests, Alhaji Yerima Shettima, The National President of AYCF said, “We have observed, as a group, the loud calls for the total ban on SARS through politically-motivated protests in some parts of the country, notably Lagos State”.

“Much as we agree that the Nigeria Police, like all other agencies of the Federal Government could have a few black sheeps in the system, it is not as bad as warranting outright ban.”

“We are not, at all, persuaded by the new narrative and the rented-crowd street protests that SARS should be banned. We therefore declare as follows:

1. It is already on record that Nigeria needs another round of recruitment in order to increase the number of officers and men of the Nigeria Police Force to achieve the desired decrease in the growing incidence of dangerous crimes. Clearly, the nation needs additional, well-trained police personnel, like the hardworking Inspector-General of Police has rightly observed on a number of occasions. 

2. A close look at the types of persons masquerading as protesters would reveal that they are there to protect the hidden interests of high-profile fraudsters, a.k.a Yahoo Boys, thugs, street urchins and their collaborators. You would hardly see any prominent or respected Nigerian in the forefront of those ‘arrangee’ protests. We are therefore disappointed that some people are hiding behind these suspicious protests to stampede either the IG of Police or the Federal Government into taking a rash decision that could make Nigeria lower its guard, to enable the prepare promoters new grounds for urban crimes, like armed robbery, kidnapping and allied crimes to flourish. This will have dire consequences for the Nigerian people. 

3. We wish to also indicate that it is even more dangerous to allow the culture of young people running robbery ring, kidnapping or even a Yahoo Boys cartel, swindling people of millions of Naira, while kidnappers demand unthinkable amounts of money in ransom or maiming their captives; while armed robbers continue with their  killings. It is a smear on decorum to call for the weakening of any of the nation’s law enforcement agencies, much less the police, as robbers, kidnappers and Yahoo Boys dominate the country’s urban centres and do as they please. No sane society would take kindly to this economic and general security threat, no matter the size of arrangee protests. It is so obvious that the hidden agenda of the promoters of these protests is whittling down the authority of a formidable, result-oriented unit of the Nigeria Police Force. 

4. The AYCF believes that many Policemen in the country have been killed and we wonder if these policemen are not human beings; or don’t they have families too? No human life is more valuable than another. As a group, we think the best way to take care of the bad eggs in the force is to first engage in massive institutional reform through training and retraining, something the IGP has hammered on, in a series of stakeholders conferences, as reported in the media. 

5. We wish to add that the IGP should create a special monitoring and disciplinary unit or special Task Force within the Nigeria Police in order to check the excesses of the bad eggs in the service and take appropriate measures. 

6. On no account should the IGP ban the SARS and should continue with massive, fresh recruitments to multiply the number of these special squads of policemen as a viable strategy for crime fighting. Nigeria has already come a long way in its efforts to curb urban crimes, using SARS as a legitimate force for achieving a lot, especially under the current  no nonsense IGP. The question is: has the number of armed robbers, kidnappers and flamboyant yahoo boys increased or decreased with the SARS operations or not? Any discerning observer knows that the fear of SARS amongst armed robbers, kidnappers and Yahoo Boys is now the beginning of wisdom. 

7. We are calling on all stakeholders in  Nigeria, who are genuinely in support of a more decent police force, to lend their voices against this veiled attempt by shadowy groups of dangerous people and their collaborators to stampede the IGP or Federal Government into a ban on SARS that would be regrettable in the end. 

8. We also urge the Security Committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives to consider taking important legislative steps that will safeguard the nation against taking a decision capable of reversing Nigeria’s war on crime.” Alhaji Yerima Shettima concluded.