A group has called for the deployment of operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) to bring an end to security menace across Nigeria.
The group, Every Nigerian Do Something Positive Development Initiative, on Tuesday, June 19, during a protest urged the federal government to redeploy the police to curb terror attacks of Boko Haram and herdsmen in the country.
ENDSPDI said police officers currently assigned as bodyguards to wealthy people should be assigned to secure the lives and property of the masses.
Speaking in Abuja, the leader of the group, Perry Brimah called for the return of military to the barracks.
Brimah said the military personnel had no constitutional role replacing the police with wartime brutality because the police were currently engaged in bodyguard duties.
Although no official of the national assembly was around to address the protesters who besieged the National Assembly, the group called for immediate decentralisation amendments to create state police and restore regionalism.
Personnel of the Nigerian Police were on ground to monitor the protest. Leader of the police team, who declined identity, said the police were ensuring that the protesters maintained peace. He said the group was not violent and had been told that lawmakers were on break.
The protesters carried placards with inscriptions as “Justice is on its head”, “Justice for 33 victims of Offa robbery” and “Stop looting by Police.”
Meanwhile, 32 officers of the Special Anti-robbery Squad (SARS) in Abuja were arrested and are currently under investigations for various cases of misconduct.
The arrest of the officers followed a massive protest by some Nigerians resident in Abuja. The officials were said to have been locked up in various cells in Abuja and have not been allowed to see their families or lawyers.
