It is unfortunate that at a time like this that armed robbery, kidnapping and sundry violent crimes have become rife in the country, the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigeria Police is enmeshed in crisis over the brutalisation of many Nigerians by its operatives. In the last two weeks or so, the security outfit has been under public searchlight, thanks to citizen journalism and the internet records of its atrocities.
It all began when one man was allegedly shot by a SARS operative in Lagos, and many others went to town with their sad experiences and tales of extra-judicial killings by officials of the organisation over the years. Within a week, the hashtag, #EndSARS, had generated unprecedented following on the net, with pictures of scores of similar brutalities and dehumanisation of citizens by SARS.
After an initial denial, the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, ordered an immediate reorganisation of the anti-robbery squad, and placed it under the command of a commissioner to be based in Abuja. The envisaged reorganisation is expected to ensure that the outfit adheres to the global best practices in policing, and is repositioned for effective service delivery, with integrity.
Now, anyone who knows the SARS and the parent Nigeria Police from which it was carved out knows that this mandate is ambitious. Policing in Nigeria has been undermined by decades of neglect, poor training and poor welfare of policemen. It has become a shadow of what any responsible security outfit should be. Persons of questionable character have, over the years, been inadvertently recruited into the force, even as citizens with better qualifications and genuine intentions failed to get appointments in the organisation.
Yet, the work of maintaining the internal security of the country is a very important one. It is, perhaps, time for us all to look in the mirror and see the results of our misplaced choices in the police. After all, the police and in this case, SARS operatives, are recruited from amongst the people and are a part of our society.
The highhandedness of our police, and invariably of SARS, goes way back to, perhaps, the military years when the force suffered its worst humiliations and deprivations. Many in the police today see the organisation as nothing more than a self-help vehicle to fight personal wars and for personal aggrandizement. There is unwillingness by the supposed law enforcement agency to adhere to the rule of law. The result is that a number of policemen take their frustrations out on otherwise law-abiding fellow citizens, at the least suspicion of crime or malfeasance.
In the case of SARS, the unit has lent itself to all kinds of manipulations by the political authorities, which has led to a loss of public goodwill. SARS, as a security outfit, ought to be insulated from politics, but that is not the situation today. There is a clear abuse of the system which has allowed the security personnel to engage in unwholesome acts and maltreat citizens. These untoward activities partly contributed to the ranking of Nigeria Police as the worst police organisation in the world by the 2016 World Internal Security and Police Index (WISPI) released in November by the International Police Science Association and Institute for Economics and Peace. A total of 127 countries featured on the index.
Where will the proper reorganisation envisaged by the IGP start from? Some citizens, in apparent frustration and complete lack of belief in the possibility of reforming SARS, have called for an outright scrapping of the unit. But, that could be tantamount to cutting the nose to spite the face. The SARS has its own usefulness, and the fact that our security personnel often perform well at overseas assignments and come back with commendations, means that they are not intrinsically bad. They only need to be better trained on what the nation expects from them.
They also need to be taught the importance of adhering to the regulations guiding their operations through a system which provides rewards for good performance, and stiff punishment for misbehaviour. The bottom line is that we must find creative ways of reforming its operatives and positioning them for humane and effective service delivery.
This will require the utmost commitment of government. The generality of the citizenry have to give their best support too. First, the conditions of service of policemen are not appealing. Not many Nigerians are eager to work in the security agency. The salaries, training facilities and requisite equipment available to our policemen are nothing to write home about. We also believe there should be better entry requirements which will bring our policing at par with what is available in the advanced countries.
The job of policing and securing the country is too serious to be left to ill-educated and ill-motivated persons, and citizens of dubious integrity. Once our leaders develop the necessary political will to strengthen our police and we demonstrate the patriotic zeal required to make our security agencies better, the SARS and similar security outfits will be fixed and made to serve the citizens and the country better.