NHRC to set up another panel on SARS

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has revealed plans to set up an independent panel to investigate allegations of human rights abuses against the dissolved special anti-robbery squad (SARS).

This comes more than a year after a similar report was submitted to President Muhammadu Buhari.

In June 2019, Buhari received a report from the presidential panel set up to reform the anti-robbery squad.

At the time, the president directed the NHRC to work with the inspector-general of police and the ministry of justice to work out modalities for the implementation of the report to reform the squad “within three months.”

But not much was heard of the report which, among other things, recommended the proscription of SARS.

The police unit, accused of excessive use of force, arbitrary arrests and extrajudicial killings, was only disbanded after protesters took to the streets.

In a statement shared via its Twitter handle, the NHRC said the new panel will be set up “within the next one week” as decided at a forum organised by Tony Ojukwu, its executive secretary; and Mohammed Adamu, inspector-general of police.

The council said the forum also resolved to set up various technical committees that would “work (out) a plan for the implementation” of the previous panel’s report.

It added that the forum also recommended: “the psychological evaluation, training and retraining of disbanded SARS officials prior to re-deployment.”

“There was also an agreement by the forum that the Inspector General of Police should order all State Police Commands to halt the use of force against protesters and to release arrested protesters and citizens unconditionally,” the statement read.

“The Forum, according to him, resolved to set up the following Technical Committees, to be supported by the NHRC and other Civil Society Organisations to design the roadmap and a work plan for the implementation of the White Paper of the Presidential Panel on the Reform of SARS.”