Human Rights Group, Access to Justice has stated that the disbandment of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) is not enough to confront the impunity and entrenched lawlessness, calling for more urgent reforms to be carried out.
This was disclosed in a statement issued by the Group on Sunday, signed by the Convener, Joseph Otte & the Project Director, Deji Ajare, which was made available to TheNigeriaLawyer.
“Access to Justice welcomes the dissolution of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) by the Inspector-General of Police following the recent public outcry over police brutality, particularly those of the SARS. However, dissolving SARS is not enough and will not address the large-scale and widespread culture of impunity that has characterized the delivery of policing and security services in Nigeria.
“That culture of impunity is rife and thriving in the Police Force as most people know. If the Police Force as a whole is not reformed, it is highly unlikely that any new initiatives or tactical Units created out of the Force will operate differently from the way SARS did. The institutional culture of the Police, as well as other law enforcement/security agencies promotes impunity, lawlessness, lack of accountability and disregard for the rule of law.”
Meanwhile, it was stated that successive administrations have not paid attention to this endemic culture, adding that, “ Past and present governments in Nigeria are enablers of this culture. Neither the Buhari government nor past governments have done anything significantly more than traffic in largely “empty” rhetoric regarding reform of law enforcement and security institutions. The actual work of undertaking reforms that would make Nigeria’s law enforcement and security agencies accountable, professional and respectful of the rule of law has been left undone, and traded-off for the rhetoric.”
However, it was stated that the present administration failed to do the needful, and as such, aiding the impunity culture.
“President Buhari’s government has, possibly more than any other, created the atmosphere for widespread impunity to thrive and flourish. Under his administration, – as many independent reports have asserted – thousands of Nigerians have been summarily or extrajudicially killed by security and law enforcement officials in circumstances that are themselves an expression of the confidence which officials of these institutions have that no consequences will follow their brutal actions, and indeed, nothing has followed.”
In the light of the forgoing, the Group made the following five recommendations:
“Do more than lip-service, and immediately commence the reform of all law enforcement and security institutions in order to confront and kick out deeply entrenched cultures of lawlessness and impunity within them. For this purpose, government must itself lead by example. By showing intolerance for acts of lawlessness and impunity, and complying with court orders, government will set the marker for law enforcement and security agencies’ conducts in this respect.
“Government must conduct a thorough review or audit of [the dissolved] SARS operations, and, for this purpose, establish a fact-finding Inquiry into how the unit transformed into a notorious scheme of oppression and injustice; every SARS official who was involved in the brutal and widespread assault of citizens and the violations of human rights must be brought to justice, including being prosecuted, in order to safeguard against similar atrocities in the future. If these operatives are not identified and sanctioned now, they may very well find their ways into new successor initiatives to SARS, and thus forcing Nigerians to relive the past in the form of old wine in new wineskins. Also, by bringing perpetrators of human rights abuses to justice, Government begins the arduous task of tackling the culture of lawlessness and impunity in its key security institutions.
“Government must re-organize current accountability systems in order for police services to function accountably. The Police Service Commission which is constitutionally responsible for the discipline of members of the Police Force is practically toothless and unable to implement its crucial mandate.
“Government must immediately abrogate laws – such as the Sheriff and Civil Process Act [SCPA] 2004 – which make it nearly impossible for courts to hold the police –and other law enforcement and security agencies – to account. Unless those laws are jettisoned, courts may also continue to face daunting challenges in upholding the rule of law and punishing the infraction of civil rights. Furthermore, law enforcement and security institutions (and their operatives) will continue to act with impunity knowing that Nigeria’s laws, in practice, shield and protect them from being made accountable for their actions.
“Government must also improve the service and post-service welfare of officers of the Police Force. In addition, there is a need for Government to ensure that Police officers are given the tools they need for their jobs as some of the extortionist tendencies amongst members of the force is aimed at raising funds to get their jobs done. Finally, training and retraining of the rank and file of the force must be given more priority and selection for these trainings must be done on need basis and not on the basis of other sentiments.”
