A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana (SAN), has said that the Special Anti-robbery Squad (SARS) is a legacy of the military government and a partially illegal squad which needs to be completely overhauled.
Falana disclose this while speaking on Channels Television Breakfast Programme, Sunrise Daily, on Tuesday.
The Human Right Activist and Lagos based lawyer said armed troops and soldiers among SARS operators need to be removed and the policemen among them need reorientation as they operate like they are in a military government.
“You must remove the soldiers in SARS and retrain the police among them. You re-orientate them because they still behave as if they are under military dictatorship because SARS is a legacy of military dictatorship.
“As it is constituted, it is partly illegal under a civilian and democratic dispensation. Under the constitution, the duty of maintaining internal security, law and order in Nigeria is vested exclusively in the police.
“SARS is constituted by armed troops, soldiers and police personnel all over the country. Every state government maintains the SARS in the country and these state governments have not bothered to find out what is this body doing in terms of law enforcement, combating armed robbery and performance in terms of respecting the rights of the Nigerian people,” Falana said.
