President Muhammadu Buhari has described the dissolution of the rogue police unit known as Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) as the first step to measures aimed at reforming the entire police force.
It is the President’s first public statement since the nearly ten days #ENDSARS protest began on social media and erupted on the streets across the country.
“The disbanding of SARS is only the first step in our commitment to extensive police reforms in order to ensure that the primary duty of the police and other law enforcement agencies remains the protection of lives and livelihood of our people,” President Buhari said on Tuesday.
He also pleaded that the activities of a “few” corrupt officers should not be used to judge the entire force.
Protesters across the country had demanded the President dissolve the SARS unit for alleged distortions, brutality, and outright murder of innocent and unarmed young people. The protest which followed fresh evidence of brutality and killings was led by notable Nigerian entertainers in Lagos. The protest had garnered a large social media support. It peaked as the top trending topic in the world on social media for a record three days even surpassing the BlackLivesMatter by the number of tweets – over 30 million tweets made in a single day.
As police and protesters clashed and eyewitnesses posted more evidence of police dealing ruthlessly with unarmed protesters, support flooded in from different parts of the world. International sports figures like Mezut Ozil, Marcus Rashford, Raheem Sterlin, and hundreds of notable actors, music artists, and media professionals tweeted solidarity for the #ENDSARS movement.
While the protest was majorly on social media protest initially, it, however, forced the IGP of Police to issue a statement banning all SARS officers and other tactical squads of the Police force from operating on Nigerian roads. But the directive was rejected by the protesters who insisted that only a disband was good enough for the rogue officers.
Read also: How EndSARS protest contributed to changing Nigeria’s real estate sector story in 2020
The protest spilled over on the street soon after the IGP’s ban directive and on Saturday witnessed one of the largest gatherings of young people against the authorities in recent times. The protest soon drew mothers whose children have either fallen victim to SARS brutality or were afraid that their children’s lives may be in danger because of the continued existence of the notorious unit.
The escalation of the protest and the resultant violence displayed by officers of the police force on Sunday, led to the IGP yet again pronouncing the SARS unit disbanded. Unfortunately for him, the protesters were not buying it. They insisted the order should be coming from the person of the President given that such directives given by the IGPs in the past had not had any impact on the SARS officers.
“If President Muhammadu Buhari was facing re-election, he would have addressed the nation on #EndPoliceBrutality by now,” tweeted Omojuw Japheth, media personnel. “Makes you wonder, those tears he shed on national TV back when he thought he’d never be president, what happened to those tears?”
The protesters also had five demands they wanted to be met by the President and the IGP of police.
The demands include 1) Immediate release of all arrested protesters 2) Justice for all deceased victims of police brutality and appropriate compensation for their families 3) Setting up an independent body to oversee the investigation and prosecution of all reports of police misconduct (within 10 days) 4) In line with the new police act, psychological evaluation and retraining (to be confirmed by an independent body) of all disbanded SARS before they can be redeployed 5) Increase police salary so that they are adequately compensated for protecting lives and property of citizens.
The protest on Monday would go on to cripple activities at the Lagos and Abuja Airports, grind traffic to a halt in several parts of Lagos, shut down the office of Osun governor before the President finally spoke.
“Mr. President @MBuhari, please issue an order that, with immediate effect, live ammunition should not be found on policemen anywhere near peaceful protesters,” Joe Abah, a policy expert and Country director of DAI tweeted. “Another young man has reportedly been killed in Surulere. Police should take a daily inventory of bullets.”
While the President’s speech brings some form of relief to the protesters, it is not clear whether it is enough assurance for the angry protesters.
