SARS: Fate of suspects in detention hanging

Following the disbandment of the controversial Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) unit of the Nigeria Police Force as a result of nationwide protests, tagged #EndSARS, the fate of suspects arrested by the operatives is unknown, checks by Daily Trust Saturday have shown.

It would be recalled that Inspector-General of Police Mohammed Adamu had on October 11 announced the immediate disbandment of the unit. He made the announcement at a briefing in Abuja.

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Shortly after the briefing, a statement by Force Public Relations Officer Frank Mba further noted that a new policing arrangement would be announced to fill the gaps created by the disbandment of the SARS.

“In the finest spirit of democratic, citizen-centred and community policing, IGP M.A Adamu, today, October 11, 2020, dissolved the SARS in the 36 police commands across states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), where they hitherto existed,” the statement read.

Few days later, the IGP told Nigerians that the force had created a new and ‘reformed’ unit called Special Weapons and Tactical Team (SWAT). But it was vehemently rejected by the protesters, who argued that there was no difference between the disbanded unit and the new one.

Findings by Daily Trust Saturday showed that few among the suspects arrested by the disbanded SARS had escaped from detention while majority are languishing in the their custody and others moved to detention facilities belonging to states.

For instance, in Abuja, when one of our correspondents visited the popular SARS detention facility called ‘Abbattoir,’ located along Nyanya-AYA-Apo road, it was observed that some suspects were still inside the facility but the entrance of the facility was locked.

Several calls and text messages to Mr Mba were not answered at the time of filing this report. When our correspondent visited Force Headquarters on Friday to find out the fate of those who are still in SARS detention facilities across the country, his personal assistant said her boss was still in a crucial meeting.

However, a senior police officer at the Force Headquarters who spoke in confidence with Daily Trust Saturday said few suspects had been moved to the FCT detention facility. He added that the remaining ones would be distributed to various correctional centres across the country after they might have been re-arraigned in court.

“We are just waiting for the rising tension across the country to come down. The fleeing criminals will be re-arrested and arraigned in the competent court of law. There is no hiding place for criminals in this country. Their cases will be treated accordingly. Those who were unjustly detained will also be set free,” the source said.

He added that their fate would soon be decided by the IGP after meeting with relevant stakeholders and issues of police facility destruction have been solved.

State CID takes over cases in Lagos, Ogun

In Lagos, the state police command has moved the suspects in the custody of the disbanded SARS to the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

Out of the suspects, it was learnt that 190 of them have actually been convicted and are awaiting the result of their COVID-19 test before they could be transferred to the state correctional centre.

The spokesman of the Lagos State police command, SP Muyiwa Adejobi, in a chat with one of our correspondents, said the command, through its CID, had taken over the prosecution of the other suspects. He added that the current curfew stalled their appearance in court.

“At the time the SARS was disbanded, we had 190 suspects that had been convicted, but they were waiting for their COVID-19 test. Without their certificate, they would not be admitted to the prisons. Those ones have now been moved.

We have taken over the other cases in the state CID; different departments are handling the matter. They are going to court one by one. Because of this crisis they can’t go to court. But the suspects are with us; we are keeping them until we have access to court and continue prosecution,’’ Adejobi said.

Similarly, in Ogun State, the police command stressed that suspects detained at the disbanded SARS facilities would be transferred to the CID for continuation of their trials.

Two facilities are used by the scrapped police unit in the state.

The main SARS facility is located at Magbon, Abeokuta, while the other one is situated at Oba-Oko in Ewekoro Local Area of the state.

The Oba-Oko facility had, earlier in the year, been converted into a police station over the alleged murder of a soccer star, Kazeem Tiyamiyu (Kaka) by some operatives from the facility.

Speaking with one of our correspondents, the police public relations officer in the state, Abimbola Oyeyemi, said the last standing facility was redundant.

He said, “It is still a police facility. For now, we are not using it. We can convert it into anything we like.”

Asked about the whereabouts of the detainees in the facility, Oyeyemi said, “We have a Criminal and Intelligence Department where the detainees will be transferred to. And from there they will continue their cases.”

But the story is different in Oyo State. One of the operatives of the disbanded SARS in the state who craved anonymity told Daily Trust Saturday that those arrested before the protests were still in their custody, saying, “I don’t know their fate. I cannot tell you the number of the detainees, but they are still in our custody.

For now, we don’t know their fate, but I can confirm to you 100 per cent that they are in our custody. It is only the IGP that can determine their fate,” he said.

When contacted, the police public relations officer in Oyo State, Olugbemiga Fadeyi, told one of our correspondents that he did not have any information on the whereabouts of SARS detainees before the protest.

He said he could only find out from the authority, which may last for days.

Also, when Daily Trust Saturday visited the SARS office in Benin, the place was deserted. There was no officer in sight, so our correspondent could not ascertain whether there were detainees inside as the facility was under lock.

Several calls and text messages to Nnamdi Omoni, the police public relations officer, Rivers State command, were not replied. Reports across the state showed that security operatives in some local government areas have abandoned their duty posts for fear of being attacked.