Barometer
President Muhammadu Buhari has sometimes been characterised by Nigerians as a hesitant and clueless leader. He has shown several times that he is not. His ability to prosecute select corruption cases, sometimes with what has been described as unusual firmness, points to the presence of a quick mind. The zest and doggedness he has deployed to vitalise the unwelcome and nationally reviled Water Resources Bill indicates a mind that knows exactly what it wants. But with the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS), he wonders what is to be done.
In the early 90s, the dreaded anti-riot arm of the Nigeria Police Force, the Mobile Police (MOPOL), otherwise referred to as kill-and-go, was the object of fear and contempt. They were reputably stone-cold killers in their days, but the establishment of FSARS in 1992 gradually took the shine off them.
A few horrifying examples. One Ifeoma Abugu was allegedly raped and murdered by SARS operatives after being arrested in lieu of her fiancé in flagrant violation of Section 7 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act. Tina Ezekwe was also reportedly killed by another errant SARS official, who allegedly told eyewitnesses to be grateful that the girl did not die on the spot. Oluwaseyi Akinade, a student of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, aged 23, committed suicide due to alleged arrest and torture by SARS.
Police spokesman, Frank Mba, noted that the amount that had been expended training the unit makes it difficult to disband it. He is only half right. Indeed, money has been spent on training and equipping the unit. The money that has been spent on this clearly ineffectual training was, however, not his. It belonged to taxpayers, who are now claiming that they are no longer interested in the project. Despite what many youths have alleged is a strategic underreporting of the protests, it has gained momentum and the protests have become international. If anything should be learnt from the kill-and-go example, the solution only begins with disbanding the irredeemably violent unit; it will be consolidated by preventing the baton from being passed to another police unit. If President Buhari and the police force remain glacial and do not placate the protesting youths, then they may have to deal with a mountain where they could have levelled a molehill.
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