Buhari receives report on SARS reform

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari Monday received the report of the presidential panel on the Reform of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) months after it was constituted.

“Today I received the Report of the Presidential Panel on the Reform of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS),” Buhari tweeted.

“We constituted the Panel as a result of public outcry and various media reports on allegations of human rights violations perpetrated by officers and men of SARS.”

The panel, inaugurated by the National Human Rights Commission after a presidential directive, was set-up to look into the activities of the SARS and make recommendations for its reform.

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo while acting as the president in August 2018 order an overhaul the management and activities of SARS.

The security outfit has been widely accused of highhandedness and extra-judicial killings.

It was the subject of #EndSARS, an intense online campaign that called for its dissolution and morphed into street protests in different parts of the country. There were also counter demonstrations.

Osinbajo subsequently directed the NHRC to set up a panel to investigate the alleged unlawful activities of the squad.

“This would give members of the public the opportunity to present their grievances with a view to getting redress”, he said.