The Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, yesterday disclosed that the training of a new police unit to take over from the disbanded Special Anti -Robbery Squad (SARS) will begin next week.
IGP Adamu made the disclosure when he received popular musician, David Adeleke, aka Davido, in his office at Force Headquarters over the ongoing #EndSARS protests.
He noted that with the scrapping of SARS, there was need to get a new structure to carry out the duties of the defunct police unit, which is fighting violent crimes.
Adamu assured that the new outfit would be intelligence-driven, properly trained and only act on special occasions that require their attention.
He said the unit will be made up of fresh personnel with a fresh orientation and not officers from the scrapped unit.
Noting that opportunities would be created for members of the public to participate in and make inputs to the formation of the new unit, the IGP said this was the first time the police had decisively taken the decision to dissolve SARS and called for calm as they continue to resolve all the issues.
He said Davido‘s visit to talk about the issue was the best way to deal with the current problem, promising that with the formation of the new unit, corrections would be taken from the experience of SARS.
“We just disbanded SARS yesterday (Sunday), so protesters should calm down and give us time to fix the problem. The general public will be part of the process of getting a new outfit.
“I’m talking to you, so I will keep talking to many others and get civil societies involved and get their input towards the new unit,” Adamu said.
Promising to investigate all cases of brutality and bring perpetrators to book, the IGP said: “The issue of compensation to the families of those affected by SARS’ would be addressed when investigations are concluded. We want justice to be done and justice will be done.”
He said officers of the disbanded outfit would be retrained and given other responsibilities in the Force, but would not be reabsorbed into the new unit.
“We admit the trust gap is wide but we will work to bridge that gap,” he said.
Earlier, Davido called for every officer who is part of SARS to be relieved of their duties and demanded the immediate release of all arrested protesters.
He also called for justice for the victims of SARS’ brutality and compensation for their families.