By Aliyu DANLADI
The three-member team constituted to ensure full compliance with the Presidential Directive on the reform of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in the South-South and South-East has expressed satisfaction with the level of compliance in the Zone.
The leader of the team ACP Austin Gbaraba, told newsmen in Umuahia on Wednesday that the team had visited Bayelsa, Delta, Akwa Ibom, Cross River and Edo States.
Gbaraba said the team, which concluded it’s visit to Abia on Wednesday, would proceed to Anambra on Thursday.
The team leader, who was accompanied to the briefing by the Commissioner of Police in Abia, Mr Anthony Ogbizi, and other members of the team, said that they visited cells designated solely for robbery and kidnap suspects and were satisfied with what they saw.
“The Inspector-General of Police set up different teams of three senior officers each to go round the zones in the country and ensure that the presidential directive was carried out.
“We are satisfied with what we have seen so far in the South-South and some states in the South-East.
“We inspected cells designated for robbery and kidnap suspects and we are satisfied that only this category of suspects were detained in those cells,” he said.
He expressed confidence that Nigerians would soon begin to feel the impact of the reform, in terms of the outfits and uniforms of the squad, its relationship with the public and discharge of its core mandate.
Gbaraba said with the reform, the squad was directly under the strict supervision of the Commissioners of Police in the states and a Deputy Inspector-General of Police at the Force Headquarters.
He said members of the squad would be kitted in special uniforms and would not be assigned to duties outside robbery and kidnapping, “except on distress calls.”
“They will no longer meddle in civil matters, such as land, marriage disputes and cybercrimes. They would not be seen on the roads or at checkpoints,” he said.
The team leader said the reform would help to bring the best in the services of the squad across the federation.
“We are going to have a rebranded Federal SARS that would not only discharge its core mandate effectively but also redeem the image of the outfit,” he said.
