SARS disbandment impeded fight against insecurity – IGP

• The acting Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba highlighted the effects of disbanding SARS on insecurity

• SARS was demanded in October 2020 after EndSARS protest hits several parts of Nigeria

• He made the comment at the weekly Ministerial briefing, organized by the Presidential Communications Team in Abuja

The acting Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba has said the disbandment of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) dented ongoing efforts by the police in fighting insecurity.

He made the comment on Thursday, May 26 at the weekly Ministerial briefing, organized by the Presidential Communications Team at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

The acting IGP also disclosed that the morale of the personnel of the force had remained dampened aftermath of the #EndSARS protest and with the recent attacks in the Southeast.

He said the regular policemen and women have not been able to immediately slot into the vacuum created by the SARS disbandment even though efforts are ongoing to train them for the new role, The Nations reports.

The acting IGP affirmed that the security situation stabilizes most times but with pockets of problems around the country.

Usman said that the police has recorded successes against secessionists and criminals in the southeast but they can not be prosecuted and brought to justice because of the ongoing strike by judiciary workers.

On the plan to recruit 10,000 new police personnel, he revealed that the process has reached 70 percent, assuring that the exercise would stick to the Federal Character principle.

He said the suspects that attacked Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State on his farm on, March 20, 2021, have been arrested and are in custody for the past one month.