All Heads of Police Formations, Commands, and Units are under fire as Nigeria’s Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu, has ordered the investigation of all recent cases of abuses of power and violation of rights by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and other tactical squads.

Adamu, in a statement on Monday, October 5, signed by Force’s spokesperson, Frank Mba, directed all Police heads compile all recent cases of abuses of power and violation of rights by FSARS and other tactical squads.

The Tactical squads include the Special Tactical Squad (STS), Intelligence Response Team (IRT), Anti-Cultism Squad, and other Tactical Squads operating at the Federal, Zonal and Command levels.

He instructed them to forward their compilations to his office on or before Friday, October 9, 2020.

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The statement reads; “All recent cases of abuses of power and violation of rights of citizens by FSARS, SARS, IRT, STS and other police Teams should be compiled by the Heads of all Police Formations, Commands and Units and forwarded to the Office of the Inspector General of Police not later than Friday 9th October, 2020.

“The returns to include the Dates of the Incident, Venues of the Incidents, the Special Team Involved, Details of the Officers Involved, Details of the Incident, Fatalities/ Injuries/ Damages (If Any), Actions Initiated by the Head of the Concerned Command, and the Current Status of the Matter.”

This development follows outcry from Nigerians towards the Federal Government over the incessant cases of killings, harassment, torture, illegal arrest, and extortion from SARS operatives.

The IGP, on Sunday, October 4, responded by banning SARS operatives and other Tactical Squads of the Force, from carrying out routine patrols and other conventional low-risk duties.

This include stop and search duties, checkpoints mounting of roadblocks, and traffic checks.

He directed that SARS personnel are only to respond to cases of armed robbery, kidnapping, and other violent crimes.

"The compiled cases of abuse of power must include the Dates of the Incident, Venues of the Incidents, the Special Team Involved, Details of the Officers Involved, Details of the Incident, Fatalities/ Injuries/ Damages (If Any), Actions initiated by the Head of the Concerned Command, and the Current Status of the case," the IGP said.

The IGP stated that henceforth all heads of commands would become vicariously liable and responsible for the misbehaviors of any officers under their commands.

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The Police Chief also instructed all Police Commissioners, Force Provost Marshall (FPM) and IGP Monitoring Units to mobilize joint teams across the 36 States of the Federation including the FCT and ensure the orders given are enforced.

He warned that any operative of the Special Units who violates this order must be arrested and brought to the Force Headquarters for sanctioning.

The IGP added that he wants a weekly update on this operation forwarded to his office for review.

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