Ayobami said he was stopped, beaten and exploited financially by SARS operatives in the country. Ayobami, who said he had to pay as high as N150,000 to SARS operatives on one occasion.
The call for the total scrap of the Special Anti-Robbery Unit of the Nigeria Police Force is a call that has existed for years but never before had the level of agitation resulted in nationwide protests and mass outcry like now.On Wednesday, youths in Ibadan commenced a three-day protest to demand an immediate scrap of the SARS unit of the Nigeria Police Force.
They described any form of reformation of the Police Force without a scrap of the SARS unit as another ‘lip-service’ from the government.One of the organisers and lead influencers of the protest in Ibadan, Asiwaju Lerry, a digital entrepreneur, explained that he had been stopped and harassed by SARS officials.
“I didn’t pay the first time. There are times I paid N30,000. There are times I paid N50,000. The last time I stood my ground but that was after multiple slaps and beating,” he said. “Even if you want to arrest a person, you will go through normal procedures. Not because I look good, not because I dress well, not because I am using a good phone you should be harassing us on the road. It’s not called for. They go to people’s house to arrest them. We are not safe in our house; we are not safe on the street. If we should stay at home and say we are not going to do anything about it then they will not do anything about it too.
Mr. Babajide, who spoke with this reporter, explained that he had no choice but to join the protest very early in the morning because he had experienced first-hand SARS brutality noting that he fears SARS officials more than armed robbers.
Adebayodayo20 Let them recruit the real people for the job with proper screening not taughts, illiterates, armed rubbers who joined the Nigeria Police Force act of frustration. If SARS end today crime will increase by 100%.Let FG restructure the organization.