The centrality of security in an economy cannot be over stressed. This explains my taking out time through this medium to key in into the trending issue of Special Anti-robbery Squad, otherwise called SARS in Nigeria.
So, finally SARS has been dissolved! The journey to this feat came after days of sustained protests by youths across the country. That SARS had been associated with all manner of misdemeanour that amounts to antithesis of what a security outfit should not be is common knowledge. To be candid, SARS had always been there but its notoriety came to a head with the ramping up of activities of “yahoo yahoo boys”. That made some of the elements of the outfit abandon their core mandate which was checkmating armed robbery, especially on the high ways.
The bottom line to the scenario being played out is that the Nigerian Police Force has been on life support before now. Disbanding and redeploying SARS members and coming up with an entirely new outfit to perform the functions of the dissolved SARS will be mere cosmetic and an exercise in futility
Victims of the excesses and high handedness of SARS operatives have had tales of chilling stories to relate. They framed people, especially youths with a view to extorting money from them. They stopped people indiscriminately on the roads, searched their phones or laptops and then came up with “incriminating” evidence which could only be “quashed” with sums of money. Their victims would be thankful if the harassment ended with just extortion. In many cases, victims were tortured, maimed, or even raped. May abundant blessings be yours if you harbour tattoos on any part of your body or ear rings on the ears or spot dreadlocks on your head! In addition, many extra-judicial killings were attributed to it.
But SARS was only and had always been a unit of the Nigerian Police Force (NPF). When it was carved out and given prominence, it was greeted with derision by some Nigerians who questioned whether the offspring would be any different from the mother. From the activities of the outfit so far, those Nigerians who were called pessimists then are today being proved right.
There is a popular saying that in every twelve, there must be a Judas. But in the case of SARS, it seems that in every twelve, there were eleven “Judases”. This stems from the fact that there was preponderance of very many bad eggs in that outfit, empirically speaking. They dressed shabbily even like the armed robbers they were meant to catch. Their modus operandi reeked nothing but disgusting.
As at the time of penning this article, there was no letting in the protests even with the announcement of the dissolution by the Inspector General of Police (and the subsequent announcement of a replacement – SWAT) and the address to the nation by the President on the determined efforts by his government to reform the Police. That bears eloquent testimony to the total disconnect between the citizens and the Police on one hand and the contempt with which the force is held by the citizens on the other.
The continued protests clearly show that the matter is beyond just SARS and its excesses. Has there been any trust between Nigerian citizens and the Force that is supposed to be their friend? That there has never been any love lost between the two is just stating the obvious. Is there any Nigerian dead or alive or a relation/friend of his that has not tasted the brutality of the Nigerian Police?
As with SARS, there are other pockets of units of the force and nobody is talking about them. How professional, for example, is the unit that deals with cultism and drugs? Its modus operandi is not any different from that of SARS. Its members always appear in mufti (as if wearing police uniform is now an anathema) and move in unmarked and sometimes dilapidated and rickety vehicles. If a thorough searchlight is beamed on its activities, there is no doubt that tales of woes and lamentations from its victims will compare favourably with that of SARS.
The bottom line to the scenario being played out is that the Nigerian Police Force has been on life support before now. Disbanding and redeploying SARS members and coming up with an entirely new outfit to perform the functions of the dissolved SARS will be mere cosmetic and an exercise in futility. Where will the new members come from? And where will the disbanded members go?
Solving the problems of the Force requires utmost sincerity of purpose. The government will review critically the funding of the Police. It is either the country has a force worth the name or it should forget about it entirely. A situation where a policeman is made to buy his own complete outfit (uniform, boot etc.) is totally unacceptable and repugnant, not to talk of the ill equipped nature of the stations where complainants, for example, are made to provide writing materials in order to enter statements. What of the barracks where they live? What type of psychological wellbeing of the inhabitants of such barracks do you expect?
Mouthing of overhauling/reforming the force has been there but this present situation offers a perfect opportunity and time to walk the talk. A lot needs to be done in the recruitment process and the funding of the force. For those already in the force, mental, emotional and psychological evaluation needs to be carried out on them. Those not in good standing should be shown the way out. It is better to have a lean and efficient force than a bloated and sadistic one. Massive recruitment along a newly designed template should be embarked on.
Dr. Okolo is a Chartered Stockbroker and Management Consultant based in Lagos.
