The Vice President of Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osinbajo has condemned the unlawful arrests and brutal killing of young Nigerians by the police.
Speaking after meeting with the Inspector General of Police, IGP Mohammed Adamu, in Abuja, on Sunday, October 4, the Vice President said that police officers that were found culpable in the maiming and killing of young men and women should be made to face the full wrath of the law.
According to the Prof. Osinbajo, “Today, I had a meeting with the Inspector General of Police, we reviewed several of these issues. The President and I have had discussions on this, he is very concerned about it. He wants to see a reform.
“You are probably aware that the IG has issued a statement looking at all these issues, in particular, the warning against the use of these tactical units such as SARS for purposes of doing anything other than anti-robbery.
“For example, he specifically said that you cannot have a situation where SARS says they are investigating cybercrime by arresting young men and women carrying their laptops and phones.”
“Cybercrime is an electronic crime. I don’t see how you can investigate that by seizing people’s phones in a taxi or in their cars,’’ Osinbajo said.
The Vice president said it was obvious that a few bad eggs in the Police were causing all of the problems because it was all over the place, in different states.
He commended the IG first step of banning FSARS and others and his clear statements on policemen who he said must always wear police uniforms.
“You cannot say that because you belong to a tactical unit, you can dress in your casual clothing and be armed.”
By dressing casually, the vice president said that people “can’t even tell the difference between robbers and the police if you are not properly dressed in police uniform.
He said that the Federal Government would ensure that every one of those allegations against FSARS was properly investigated.
