The Lagos state commissioner of Police Hakeem Odumosu, has assured Lagosians that they would never find any SARS operative in operation again.
This is in compliance with the directive of the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, disbanding the Special Anti-Robbery Squad.
According to a report by The Punch, Odumosu, who addressed a group of lawyers protesting police brutality as part of the raging #EndSARS campaign, said already policemen under SARS had been disarmed and their offices shut down.
He also disclosed that the suspects in their custody had been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department in Panti for the continuation of investigations.
He said, “As to the directive of the Inspector-General of Police for disbandment (of SARS), if you come here now you will see them (SARS officers) in the regular police uniform.
“They’ve been disbanded, all their arms have been collected; the cases they were handling and the suspects have been transferred to the State CID, Panti for continuation of investigation.
“All these I have done in compliance with the Inspector-General’s directive. You should understand that in Lagos, we have many police formations; we have, for example, the Special Fraud Unit, traditionally, they are not to carry arms, they are in mufti; equally, we have the Force CID personnel in Alagbon, they are not carrying arms and they are not to be in uniform, all these are specialised arms of the police.
“But the one that the IG has disbanded now has been disbanded from that day. If you go to their offices now in Surulere, Gbagada, they are under lock and key; we only posted policemen there now to guard the places. They are no more functioning.”
Odumosu, who commended the protesters led by a human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, for their maturity and decorum, added that no single participant in the #EndSARS protest has been killed by the police since the protest started last week.
He said the person who died from a stray bullet at Surulere on Monday, was not a protester but a driver, who came of his car to check the cause of the gridlock on the road.
Odumosu added that police officers seen in a viral video harassing a female protester had been arrested and put in the cell.
