Nigerians agitating for the scrapping of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) are not victims of violent crimes, but are doing so out of ignorance, the new commissioner of police in Akwa Ibom State, Adeyemi Samuel Ogunjemilusi has maintained.
Ogunjemilusi pointed out “Those calling for the scrapping of SARS have not been victims of violent crimes. They are doing so out of sheer ignorance. SARS operatives are the ones who contain violent crimes.”
Addressing journalists Wednesday at Akwa Ibom Police headquarters, Ikot Akpan Abia in Uyo, he said rather than clamouring for the scrapping of the department, Nigerians should call for increased funding to the department.
Ogunjemilusi, who is the immediate past Commissioner of Police, Welfare Department of the Force Headquarters in Abuja, recalled “I have developed new code of conduct and uniform for them. All these are to ensure that SARS is positioned to serve our society better.”
“The department of police that loses more operatives often is the SARS. That is how risky the job is. So, instead of calling for the scrapping of SARS, I think we should even place a demand on government to provide more funding for them to carry out their duties properly,” he said.
The commissioner replaces Mu’azu Zubairu Halilu who had gone for a course at the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies in Kuru, Plateau State, explaining that SARS is the “striking point of the police.”
Ogunjemilusi pledged his administration’s resolve to reform the SARS in the state command to meet accepted standards and to pay special attention to the command’s other tactical units such as Anti-cultism, Anti-kidnapping, Anti-robbery, State Intelligence Bureau and Quick Response in order to address crimes in these categories.
He used the occasion to serve quit notice to criminal elements in the state, saying that his administration would leave no stone unturned in combating them.
“Let me, therefore, warn that tough time awaits criminal elements in the state. The command will make it very difficult for you to succeed,” he noted.
