The police on Tuesday insist that they will not be scrapping the dreaded special anti-robbery squad, saying it is not in the best interest of Nigeria to do so.

Force Headquarters spokesman Frank Mba said the notorious squad can only be reformed and not disbanded due to the prevalence of violent crimes in the country.

“What we need to do is to reform SARS and make them responsive,” Mr. Mba told Naira Marley on Instagram Tuesday. “We need them to continue to respond to violent crimes.”

“Why do you want to end SARS? Are you an armed robber?” Mr. Mba said. “We need them to continue to respond to armed robberies.”
The Inspector-General Mohammed Adamu on Monday issued a signal to all formations, zones and state commands of the Force, restricting the activities of the dreaded SARS unit.

The directive came hours after agents of the notorious squad had flagrantly flouted an earlier order by the IGP, which restrained them from routine patrols and stop and search duties on Nigerian roads.

Many Nigerians took turns at the weekend to condemn the security outfit after a fresh wave of extra judicial killings and harassment of citizens by some of its rogue officers.

Despite various attempts to reorganise the SARS structure, persistent cases of human rights abuses by its agents have gone unabated. An outright scrapping of the unit, some aggrieved Nigerians insist, will begin the process of eradicating police brutality in the country.