Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has joined a social media campaign #ENDSARS to scrap the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a unit the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) over its alleged assault and brutality of young Nigerians.
TheNewsGuru.com reports that the social media, especially Twitter has recently been awash with intense calls for the scrapping of the unit.
The former Vice President who joined the campaign on Sunday tweeted: The arbitrary harassment of young Nigerians by Police (who should be protecting them) has no place in a democratic society.
The #EndSARS protest shows Nigerian youth are upset and the matter needs urgent attention.
The arbitrary harassment of young Nigerians by Police (who should be protecting them) has no place in a democratic society.
The #EndSARS protest shows Nigerian youth are upset and the matter needs urgent attention.
— Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) December 3, 2017
Also, Amnesty International also accused the police unit of allegedly using torture to forcefully extract information from suspects.
However, as a way of pacifying the public, the Nigerian Police Force Public Complaint Rapid Response Unit, PCRRU, had on Saturday announced the opening of channels through which the public can report complaints about SARS.
The move by the PCRRU may be connected to the public outcry that has trailed the activities of many SARS officials in recent times.
Late in October 2017, a 2015 graduate of Kwara State Polytechnic, Ekwere Imoh, was shot by policemen attached to SARS, Oyo State Police Command. The policemen also shot a female friend of his, identified simply as Doris, who was with him. There were no concrete reasons for shooting the duo as they were neither criminals nor under arrest.
Earlier in the same month, a lady, Kachi Anifela Zion, accused officers of SARS in Ilorin of sexual molestation. She said a male SARS official under the pretence of searching her, dipped his hand in her underwear.
She further revealed that the SARS official threatened to beat her if she shouted, adding that the officer continued to fondle, rough handle and humiliate her for several minutes. The SARS official implicated in the matter was later arrested.
See reactions from social media below: