Former vice president, Atiku Abubakar has joined other Nigerians on social media to call for the scrapping the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS.
Atiku in a series of tweet condemned the alleged atrocities of men of the Nigeria Police Force
I commend our young people for protesting these injustices peacefully online, and encourage the IG of @PoliceNG to take these complaints seriously.
I also urge the National Assembly to look into these complaints, and address the human rights issues. Reforms are urgently needed.
— Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) December 3, 2017
Nigerians on social media are calling on Police authorities to scrap the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, popularly known by the acronym SARS.
The call follows several incidents of brutality, abuse and harassment reported against men of the police department.
The Nigerian Police Force Public Complaint Rapid Response Unit, PCRRU, had yesterday announced the opening of channels through which the public can report complaints about SARS.
The move by the PCRRU may be connected to the public outcry that has trailed the activities of many SARS officials in recent times.
Late in October 2017, a 2015 graduate of Kwara State Polytechnic, Ekwere Imoh, was shot by policemen attached to SARS, Oyo State Police Command. The policemen also shot a female friend of his, identified simply as Doris, who was with him. There were no concrete reasons for shooting the duo as they were neither criminals nor under arrest.
Earlier in the same month, a lady, Kachi Anifela Zion, accused officers of SARS in Ilorin of sexual molestation. She said a male SARS official under the pretence of searching her, dipped his hand in her underwear.
She further revealed that the SARS official threatened to beat her if she shouted, adding that the officer continued to fondle, rough handle and humiliate her for several minutes. The SARS official implicated in the matter was later arrested.
A video also emerged online in November, where a gun-wielding SARS operative threatened to shoot two people at Akute area of Ogun State.
Using the hashtag #EndSARS, Nigerians have been calling on the federal government to scrap the police unit.
A petition on scrapping SARS has been addressed to the national assembly.
Published by Segun Awosanya, @segalink the petition has been signed by 10,195 people at the time of this report.
While the signatures on the petition keep surging, Nigerians on social media have continued to demand an end to SARS.
We can hit the 10,000 signature mark before Monday. Let’s keep sharing. #EndSARS #ScrapSARS #ReformPoliceNG pic.twitter.com/3OilCM5MYS
— SEGA L’éveilleur® (@segalink) December 2, 2017
Just went through VP @ProfOsinbajo‘s timeline. As silent as a graveyard about the SARS issue, ironically his congratulatory message to Wizkid & Davido was tops on his TL. You pretentious leaders, stop congratulating us after making us go through hell to succeed. #ENDSARS
— FAVOUR ONYEOZIRI (@Rouvafe) December 3, 2017
Just look at the way these uncultured fools are treating a fellow human being. No respect for the law. No respect for human right! What a shame!#NoToImpunity #StopPoliceBrutality #EndSARS #ScrapSARS pic.twitter.com/7ZsSUxZNZ5
— Mr Incredible! (@BawseHarry) December 2, 2017
