SARS operatives allegedly continue to commit human rights abuses, making arrests that are better described as kidnapping where alleged suspects have to part with huge sums of money before they are released. For those who cannot pay, they are allegedly either murdered in cold blood or accused of bogus crimes they did not commit. Despite implementation of presidential reforms, compliance is still at bay.
When what should be a commercial vehicle double-crosses you and some men jump out with guns, often clad in unmarked black outfits, wearing dreadlocks and other poorly-groomed hairstyles, with tattooed bodies, piercings and earrings, your first instinct would be: RUN! The individual is likely to think they have just been accosted by either armed robbers or kidnappers on a mission to rob, abduct, kill, or do all three.
But these physical and behavioural displays of hardened criminals are, on many occasions, attributes of men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Nigeria Police, popularly referred to as SARS, some victims of alleged SARS brutality told BusinessDay.
When they accost someone with their deadly criminal appearance and the person attempts to flee, they could shoot to kill on the spot and brand the individual an armed robber – their favourite crime tag. For those who are not so ‘lucky’ to die on the spot, they are taken to the ‘station’, a euphemism for what is more like a kidnappers’ den and torture chamber. Here, the victims would be beaten severely and their pain prolonged before they eventually get executed in cold blood if their relatives are unable to bail them, which is more like payment of ransom.
This unit of the Nigeria Police Force has been so brazen in its brutal operations over the years that it is said to confiscate cars and buildings at will, even auctioning some when it feels like doing so.
“There are also cases where property seized or houses locked up by SARS have been released to their owners, among others,” media reports quoted Tony Ojukwu, executive secretary, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), to have said following the composition of a Special Investigative Panel by the Presidency to look into the activities of SARS.
After months of campaigns with the popular hashtag ‘#EndSARS’, the NHRC in September 2018 inaugurated a seven-man investigative panel, which had a mandate to make recommendations for reform of SARS. Nine months later, in June 2019, President Muhammadu Buhari received the panel’s report, which had called for and received 113 complaints on alleged human rights violations from across the country and 22 memoranda on suggestions on how to reform and restructure SARS and the Nigeria Police in general.
Martins (not real name), a driver at BusinessDay, at about 5.30am on Monday, July 22, left his home in Ajegunle, Lagos, for Festac Town, where he was going to pick the manager he chauffeurs. On his way, he and his neighbour who were walking together got double-crossed by a shuttle bus. The bus parked and some men came down asking them to board the bus.
“Enter to go where?” Martins’ neighbour asked, explaining that they were on their way to work and not involved in any criminal activity. Martins said this statement annoyed the men he identified as SARS operatives. The men descended on him using, amongst other things, the butt of their guns to hit him several times.
He identified himself as an employee of BusinessDay, but the men flung away his ID card, along with his driver’s licence. Moving closer to them, he said he realised the men reeked of alcohol, even though it was barely 6am.
Martins and his friend were handcuffed to the metal frame of the seat in the minivan which, according to him, “already had about 10 people cramped inside it like sardines”. They were driven to Ajeromi Police Station in Ajegunle, where they saw people being brought out of the prison and transported in a ‘Black Maria’, some supposedly to Kirikiri, and others to the court, “because they wanted to empty” the prison.
Martins was asked to arrange for payment for his release, and according to him, the officer attending to them said, “If you don’t pay, you see that Black Maria, you will be put inside and taken away.”
He was disoriented, wondering whether he would end up in Kirikiri just like that. His friend’s wife was called and they started looking for money, he narrated. He had N3,000 on him, his friend had N2,000 and an additional N10,000 was sourced by his friend’s wife, making a total of N15,000, to secure their release.
When this reporter visited Ajeromi Police Station and met CSP Busari, the DPO heading that station, he said he could not confirm or refute the account unless he met the victim, explaining that there are several offices in the premises and anyone could have impersonated SARS officers.
The SARS Commander at the station, who identified himself as Israel, said his men do not go out to raid that early in the morning, insisting it may have been any other unit being mistaken for SARS.
Another victim, Alfred Anyim (real name withheld for safety reasons), who was posted to Lagos for the one-year National Youth Service Corps scheme, was driving with three friends when they were double-crossed by a black SUV in front of a filling station at Cele Bus-stop along the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway.
“Some men came down from the vehicle, ordering us to follow them,” Anyim recalled.
After initial resistance since they did not know the identity of those demanding to take them away, Anyim and his friends were taken to what should be a station. On arrival at the Federal SARS Annex at Sanya, Anyim said, “All of them (i.e, SARS personnel) were looking like armed robbers. Some wore earrings, dyed their hair, and one was even sleeping, as they were already high.”
Anyim and his three friends were beaten severely, made to remove their clothes and taken to cells where they were welcomed with beatings by older occupants who chanted: “What did you bring? What did you bring?” Later, Anyim was brought out, asked to write a statement and sign that his car hit a woman and she was taken to hospital.
“I did not hit anybody, so why would I write this?” he recalled asking, a question that earned him a new round of beating, where he was also being trampled on the floor.
When he refused to write the statement, another SARS officer came in and said if that was the case, Anyim and his friends would be taken to Kirikiri Maximum Prison the following day and would be accused of armed robbery.
While there, Anyim said they saw someone on his way to church brought in to be detained with his bible, and another person who was on his way to buy fuel at a filling station was picked on the road and brought there with his gallon.
“They were just picking people to beat them and collect money from them. If no one comes for you, you will be killed,” Anyim recalled.
“In my presence, people were killed that evening, and I had to keep begging that I am the only son,” he narrated.
Negotiation for their release started at N2 million after he was finally able to reach his sister. Eventually, N50,000 was paid after a three-hour bargaining period, Anyim’s sister told this reporter.
For three weeks, Anyim had to wear sunshades even indoors because every ray of light was affecting his eyes. Going out in the sun was a punishment.
“I was even thinking I had gone deaf because I could only hear with one ear,” he told BusinessDay.
President Buhari, while receiving the report of the panel of inquiry into abuses committed by SARS, had expressed belief that its recommendations would go a long way in redressing the grievances of the complainants. He said the report would ensure accountability on the part of the police officers in discharging their responsibilities and facilitate the various police reforms being introduced by his administration.
However, the sentiments expressed by the president are yet to reflect in how SARS operatives conduct themselves, allegedly abducting for extortion under the guise of arrests, killing, maiming, and trampling on the rights and dignity of ordinary Nigerians.
CALEB OJEWALE
