Just last year,
Nigerians rose up against the elite arm of the Nigerian Police Force, the
Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), kicking against its practices of harassment
of Nigerians, extortion and robbing of suspects. Nigerians demanded the
scrapping of SARS. But the police management team staunchly preferred the
status quo. Emboldened by this stance, SARS operatives became more reckless in
dealing with Nigerians. In this report, JULIANA FRANCIS takes a look at the
impunities and human rights violation still being perpetrated by SARS officials.
“I was driving through Allen Avenue at night when
these strange looking men flagged me down. They wore black T-shirts, sporting
bushy bears and hair. They looked unkempt. They were at dark, hidden corner and
seemed to appear from nowhere, right in front of my car. They looked inside my
car and then stared suspiciously at me. They were armed with long guns. I
thought they were armed robbers. I didn’t know they were policemen until they
claimed to be SARS officers.”
According to her, the manner of their dressing and approach was suspicious and she feared the worst. She was, however, lucky, she didn’t have to part with money or detained for long, frustrating hours. After staring at her dreadlocks, they allowed her to go.
She said: “I was sure that they stopped me because of my dreadlocks. They look like criminals, rather than policemen. They were scaring.”
Bumah is one of the lucky few; others, when flagged down or stopped along the streets are often delayed for hours, their phones seized and scrolled through and most often, money collected from them. These strategies constitute human rights violations. But these operatives are unmindful of these violations.
Their minds appear fixated on extorting as much money as possible from Nigerians.
SARS was created to contain the robbery and other violent crimes in the country. Many of them believe in strong-arm tactics. They brutally extort money from members of the public after slamming trumped up charges on them. They detain youths using smart phones, laptops and exotic cars on flimsy excuses.
There’s definitely a growing distrust, tension and hostility between members of the public and SARS men.
Nigerians have chosen different outlets to complain. According to Nigerians, SARS men seem to be engaged, not just in chasing robbers, which is their primary duty, but also in looking for ways to enrich themselves.
Most Nigerians have encountered SARS men and come out with ire. Incidentally, the most targeted these days are young men, often perceived to be involved in cybercrime, otherwise known as, “YahooYahoo.”
It’s now usual to see hefty men, armed with AK47 rifles, wearing black T-shirts and jackets, with FSARS emblazoned to stop young men, driving flashy cars, coming out of banking halls or merely walking the street and bus stops.
They sometimes flag down commercial buses, to peer inside, looking for young men, who are expensively dressed, have dreadlocks, tattoos or are using expensive phones.
Most of their victims are arrested on mere circumstantial or no evidence at all. They are often manhandled. Their phones are taken and browed through without arrest or search warrant.
Later, the men will be taken to their station or marched at gunpoint to the nearest Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) gallery, where the accounts are emptied and the money pocketed by the SARS officers.
These human rights violations have been on for ages, leading to calls last year that SARS should be scrapped. These demands were backed with protests and placards.
Strangely, after the series of protests, rather than for SARS operatives to change, they become more daring and reckless. This year alone, Nigerians have complained more about SARS on social and conventional media, than other years.
The former Inspector-General of Police (IG), Solomon Arase, IG Ibrahim Idris’ predecessor, during his tenure, warned policemen, especially SARS men to desist from seizing phones of motorists and pedestrians. He also warned against unnecessary harassment of Nigerians, torturing of victims, extortion and keeping suspects in detention for more than 24 hours without charging them to court.
Back then, the atrocious acts and impunities of SARS operatives were checked and the operatives carefully banked their vaulting desires.
Today, the story appears to have changed as SARS operatives continued to reign in impunities and are increasingly getting out of control. It is often common these days to see young men coming out of banks being arrested by SARS men. Young men, who also dress expensively, use expensive phones, cars or sport dreadlocks are often raided, arrested and taken to police stations. They would be asked to pay money to bail themselves.
It was because of some of these impunities that Nigerians embarked on protests in different parts of the country, calling for the scrapping of SARS. The protests were tagged: ‘#EndSARSNow.’
The protests did not change the men, if anything, they have become more emboldened.
The complaints against SARS operatives today resonate in every corner of the Nigerian federation. It is, however, worthy to note, that these impunities are prevalent among SARS men working in Lagos State.
Bumah said: “Their excesses are becoming too much. Something should be done about their appearances. I don’t understand it. In the course of doing their job, must they look like criminals? Recently, I gave my 15-year-old daughter and her cousin over N100,000 to go and get me something.
“SARS operatives stopped them on the road just because the boy had a dreadlock. They searched and found a Nokia phone and money on him. They started quizzing him about the money and what he wanted to go and buy. They also repeatedly shouted at him to bring out his other phone. They refused to believe that he had just that Nokia phone on him. They delayed them for over three hours, it was crazy.”
Many angry and frustrated Nigerians, whose rights have been vi
violated by these policemen, have taken to social media, to vent their anger.
Aniekan Williams, in his Twitter account, said that he was already packing his bags in preparation to leave Nigeria. He took the decision to leave after an unpleasant and unexpected welcome to Lagos less than two weeks after he arrived the country.
According to him, he has been robbed, slapped and made to spend a night in a police cell just because he didn’t comb his hair.
In Port Harcourt, Rivers State, early this year, an IT consultant, Vaughn Itemuagbor, said that he had had two scaring encounters with SARS operatives. He said that the SARS officers made him to lie about being a ‘Yahoo Boy’ in order to extort him.
Itemuagbor recounted: “That Sunday experience was the second this year. I was first arrested in March when I was driving to the office. I was flagged down by policemen and asked what I do for a living. I told them that I was an IT consultant. They said I was an internet fraudster and took me to their office. I was with my girlfriend that day; and we were in their office from 11a.m. till 4p.m. After lots of pleading, they asked me to give them money, I did and they set us free.
“Last Sunday, which was my second experience, I went to get food in an eatery when I saw some guys behind me in a Toyota Corolla waving me to stop; initially I thought they were kidnappers because they all wore black clothes. I wanted to speed off but I later realised that they were SARS officers; I stopped and rolled down. One of them came to meet me and said I wanted to run away; I said no. They asked who I was, and then I told them my name and my occupation. They asked for my identity card and I showed them. They said they knew who I was. I was asked to open my Facebook account; while one checked through my phone, the other officer said we should go to their office. I asked him what my offence was but he said, ‘if you don’t shut up, something else is going to happen to you, I’m asking you questions, you’re showing me ID card, you think you’re smart? We know all you people’s antics.’
“I asked who do ‘you people are,’ but he didn’t answer me. When we got to their station, I was asked to take off my shirt and trousers and sit on the floor. I was asked again what I do for a living and I told them that I was an IT consultant; I was given a hot slap. One of them came with a big stick and started hitting me. At this point I was confused; I didn’t know what to do again. They gave me a paper to write a statement, I was asked to confess to being a ‘yahoo boy,’ a popular slang for an internet fraudster, but I protested that I was not. I was slapped again. One of them that didn’t join them to torture me later came to meet me. He said that I should just write whatever they wanted me to write, that they would release me. I was forced to admit that I was a yahoo guy. They came to ask me about what I could offer them and after much talk; they said I should give them N1 million. I told them to just kill me because I didn’t have that kind of money. They said I should raise N500,000, I told them I didn’t have such an amount of money.
“I was asked to call my family; I told them I didn’t have anybody. Then, they asked me to write in my statement that I offered them a bribe to facilitate my release. After that, I was taken to an ATM close to their office. I withdrew money in multiples of N10,000, and a total of N150,000 and gave to them, after which they drove to a place and there returned my car keys. They then asked me to go.”
Itemuagbor posted the encounter on Facebook upon his release, after which the Rivers State Police Command refunded the N150,000.
Ifeoluwa Adegoke and her three friends were on their way to a photo shoot in Ikorodu area of Lagos State, when they were stopped by SARS officers. These policemen confiscated their phones and browsed through the phones. They demanded N100,000 from them. Eventually, the lady transferred N5,000 to one of them. Afterwards, she posted the bank transfer details on the social media, prompting an outrage.
Nigerians in the entertainment industry, also have their own stories to tell about their encounters with SARS operatives.
In April, Mavin Record’s artiste, Sidney Esiri aka Dr Sid, was ruffled by SARS operatives in Lagos.
Sid, a dentist turned musician, was mistaken for a ‘Yahoo boy.’ The SARS men seized his phone, intimidated and harassed him.
A witness, Laide, said: “SARS operatives stopped a vehicle at random on Freedom Way, Lekki Phase 1, thinking the driver was a ‘Yahoo boy’. After routine check, they found nothing implicating, and resorted to seizing the phone of the driver. Little did they know that this person is Dr Sid. They insulted
and attempted to assault him
physically. Thanks to Reekado Banks and K-Solo, who were there, before Basket
Mouth, who was driving by saw them and stopped to know what was wrong. Then, it
dawned on the SARS operatives that these guys were not their ‘yahoo boy
customers.’”In June, Mavin Records artiste, Ayoleyi Hanniel Solomon aka Reekado Banks, narrated how SARS operatives, who were not in uniform, overtook the car he was in and then immediately pointed their guns, ordering him and others to step down from the car.
Reekado said: “I don’t even know the difference between SARS and armed robbers. The ones I met today over took us in a regular car and wore no uniform. They calmed down when they noticed me. Please, what if it wasn’t me?”
Also in June, a female rapper, Yewande Abiodun, popularly known as Tipsy, and her friend, Tamaradenyefar Clement, revealed what happened after SARS operatives arrested them in Lagos State.
Tamaradenyefar said that the SARS men claimed to have arrested them for “indecent dressing,” and demanded a N100,000 bribe from them. The SARS officers threatened to take them away. Tamaradenyefar said that they paid N10,000 to secure their freedom.
“My friend and I went to visit another friend, and on our way back, around Akowonjo Egbeda area, SARS officers stopped us, and asked us to come down from the Uber. They searched our bags and found only money. Next thing he said ‘Go and meet our Oga.’ We were confused; so, we asked, ‘meet the Oga? Why?’ He said because we were dressed indecently and it was against the law. We tried asking questions and the only thing they ordered us to do was to enter their van,” she alleged.
According to her, they ended up paying N10,000 before they were allowed to go. And even after the girls had paid the money, Tamaradenyefar alleged, they were only released after one of the operatives had given Yewande his phone number in the hope that she would be interested in meeting him later.
She added that the SARS operatives revealed they were from State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Panti.
Nigerian singer, Michael Stephens aka `Rugged Man’ recently released a 253 seconds music video titled: “Is Police your Friend?’’ speaking for the victims of police brutality. The rapper used the music to protest against police violence and gross abuse of human rights as captured by the recent social media campaign under the hash-tag #EndSars.
An entertainer, Monday Ukaegbu (28), also alleged that SARS men came to his house and took him to the ATM gallery to collect N150,000.
Ukaegbu, who is the managing director of one of the entertaining firms in Ikotun, Lagos, said that he was still in shock. He disclosed that what perturbed him particularly on that day was that his six-month pregnant wife had to witness how five hefty men, armed with rifles, barged into their home.
He recalled: “As I was preparing to go to the office on that fateful day, my wife, as well, was preparing my breakfast. These policemen barged me into my apartment like armed robbers. I initially thought they were robbers. Two men entered first, followed by others. Only one was able to identify himself.
The first two officers wanted to manhandle me, but the leader ordered them to pick up my laptop and my phones. They also took my wife’s phone. The leader told my wife that she shouldn’t be scared, that I was their friend. They came in a Sinai bus and demanded my car keys. One of them collected the keys from me and drove out of my compound. They took me in my car, from Ikotun to Oba Akran Avenue, Ikeja. Luckily for me, my elder brother’s ATM card was with me. He had earlier asked me to assist him to withdraw money. I took them to ATM gallery and used my brother’s card. Before making the withdrawal, they first confirmed the amount that was in the account. If it was not for my elder brother’s ATM card, I would have lost over a million naira. Yes, I had over a millionaire in my own account.”
The entertainer further said that immediately after that incident, he relocated from the place to where because, on a daily basis, the same set of SARS operatives used to come into their community to raid people.
Ukaegbu recalled that one of them threatened to kill him that nothing would happen.
He added: “It was a terrible experience. I don’t wish my enemy to experience it. I remembered thinking and asking myself, ‘who will take care of my wife and baby if they kill me. They didn’t tell me my offence. We heard that they have a spy in the community. The spy tells them residents who are doing well financially.”
Lucky Joseph, who was assaulted by SARS officers, has disclosed how the policemen allegedly pulled him by his genitals during a public assault.
The victim was also allegedly stripped by the SARS men who tried to plant a wrap of Indian hemp on him at the Obio Akpor Local Government Area of Port Harcourt, Rivers State. The incident occurred on March 8.
It is considered an attempt to incriminate him for drug possession – a bid which failed according to the narrator who revealed that the drug substance fell off a handkerchief while the SARS agents tried to lodge it into his pocket. This, however, did not prevent a further assault on the victim who was bailed through a contribution offered to the policemen by neighbours.
He said: “I was passing when two SARS men grabbed me from the back. They told me to raise my hands so that they could search me. I told them that before they searched me, they should allow me to search myself so that nothing incriminating would be planted on me. They disagreed and began to search me. They brought out only my handkerchief. As one of them wanted to put it back into my pocket, I told him to hold on because I didn’t want him to add anything to it. As I did that, a wrap of hemp fell. When that happened, one of them quickly picked it. They ordered me to enter the car they brought, but I refused. They stripped and began to pull my manhood, but I did not relent. I refused to follow them because I believe I did nothing wrong. Two of them later brought out machetes and rifles. I told them that if they wanted to shoot me, they should go ahead because I was sure I did not commit any offence. As we were struggling, some wraps of Indian hemp fell off their pockets. They used the machetes to cut my body and tried to handcuff me; but I told them they could not handcuff me.”
In June, Daniel Daniel-Ekanem sent out a broadcast from where he was being detained with 11 others. He claimed that they were being treated like “animals.”
The broadcast was done on Twitter. Daniel-Ekanem said that he and 11 other men were just rounded up from the streets by SARS officers who accused them of being members of cult groups. He said they were taken to Ikot Ekpene Area Command. He revealed that they were battered and treated like animals. He said that one of the officers boasted that he had wasted so many lives and could waste theirs easily. He also said one of the men arrested with him fainted due to severe beatings from SARS men.
Francis Tochi said he was heading to the bank when some SARS men stopped him. The time was about 7:30a.m. He identified himself, but they insisted he should come with them to their van and speak with their superior.
Tochi said: “The boss asked for my phone and password, which I gave to them. He asked for my wallet, I gave him. He brought out a bank transfer teller, which I made to a foreign account for my MBA programme. They asked me to get into their car and started pushing me. They handcuffed and took
me to a canal on Lagos Mainland.
They shot a young guy in front of me because he refused to give them N50,000
after they accused him of taking codeine in a Pepsi plastic bottle. They said
similar fate would happen to me, if I didn’t oblige them. They asked me to pay
N400,000 for my life. I was concerned about the young man they shot and threw
into the van. I was only allowed to make two phone calls and that was it. I was
not with my ATM then; one of them turned and said he had a son who had the same
name as mine. He then went to their boss and after speaking with him; he
returned and removed the handcuff. At the end, they collected N200,000 from me
before allowing me to go.”A teacher in Ogun State, Mr. Ola Hammed, has demanded justice after he was allegedly shot in the leg by operatives of the SARS in Abeokuta on June 12.
Hammed wrote: “Let the people of Ogun State immediately start to take a step to contain rising cases of brutality and physical assault with gun recently linked to FSARS.”
According to him, a fight erupted between a man and a team of SARS operatives stationed under Ibara Bridge in Abeokuta.
The incident, which lasted for hours, drew attention of many passers-by and motorcycle riders. At a point, one of the SARS officers noticed a guy among the crowd that was video recording the incident. He approached, grabbed his trousers and started pulling him. He also started beating him. The crowd got angry and started hurling stones at the SARS operatives.
Hammed said: “The next thing we heard was sound of gunshot. The SARS men had opened fire, shooting sporadically. They didn’t just open fire; they were aiming at people with intentions to kill. Everyone took to their heels. One of the SARS men caught up with me. I told him that I was not part of those that hurled stones at them. The next thing he said, was, ‘I will spoil your leg,’ and then he shot my leg. I started bleeding heavily. I was rushed to Korede Hospital from where I was referred to General Hospital because it has to do with gunshot. The health workers requested for police report. I cannot sleep due to pains, while the person that perpetrated this inhuman act is out there, in the comfort of his home.
“The conduct and operations of SARS had sent several Nigerians to their early graves. Their operations have affected citizens’ rights. I know my outcry may end up futile like my initial outbursts on Rock City FM. I want people to start talking about the worrisome dimension the conduct of SARS has taken. I am calling on the citizens to intensify their advocacy if they truly desire an end to the menace.”
Mr Lee, an undergraduate, schooling in Edo State, who refused to give his full name fearful SARS operatives might come after him again, said his encounter with SARS operatives occurred in May, about 7p.m.
He said: “I was going to buy something in the market, when they stopped me at Ring Road, Benin City. They parked their van at the roundabout. They said I should enter the van; I did, then they asked for my phone and started checking my messages to see my account balance. They said I should give them N50,000. I begged them to allow me to go since they didn’t find anything on my phone, but they didn’t respond. They insisted on collecting N50,000. They said that if I didn’t give them the money, they would take me to their headquarters. I went to ATM to withdraw N20,000. When I gave them the N20,000, they allowed me to go and returned my phone.”
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