A coalition of South-East Youth Leaders (COSEYL), a socio-political youth organisation, has called for the reformation of the Nigeria Police, for better performance and security of citizens.
The group made the appeal in a press statement, signed by Goodluck Ibem, its president general and Kanice Igwe, secretary-general and made available to BusinessDay, in Aba on Wednesday.
COSEYL observed that unless some right actions were taken, that the new formation named “Special Weapons and Tactics Team” (SWAT), which replaced Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) will also fail.
They urged police authorities to start their house cleaning from the arrest and prosecution of policemen in all units, involved in human rights abuses, killings, extortions, exploitation, intimidation, and other crimes.
“Police authorities should sack dirty personnel, create room for training and retraining of personnel, to ensure that rules of engagement are followed”.
It also urged them to ensure they do thorough background checks of intended entrants, emphasize merit-driven promotion, and create good working conditions for its men and officers.
“It is true that at a point, some SARS commands lost its track and mandate, because of the activities of some bad elements in its ranks, SARS failed largely, due to the foundation on which it was built, the Nigeria Police.
“Brutality is not the language of democracy and this is what the Nigeria Police has carried on with since the return to democracy in 1999.
“Let it be known that in Abia, during the lockdown, a measure to contain the pandemic many people were extrajudicially murdered, not by SARS operatives, but by regular police officers.
“Such atrocities have not been investigated, but where they have, reports of such are still somewhere gathering dust.
“That these killings happened in peacetime with the said officers, either at large or under protective custody, is a shame that no reasonable government should overlook or cover”, the group said.
The coalition, therefore, asked for an independent or commission to look into the antecedents of SARS and police entirely and ensure the right steps are taken to rebuild the lost confidence the citizens have for the police.
The group also thanked Nigerian youths for taking the decision to protest in the face of danger such as democratic actions pose in Nigeria.
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