Human rights lawyer Femi Falana, SAN, has suggested ways to curb the excesses of police unit, the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).
He said the ongoing reorganisation of SARS will fail unless citizens are mobilised and empowered by the government, the Nigerian Bar Association and human rights community, to enforce their rights.
Falana recommended the prosecution of indicted SARS operatives, amendment of the Sheriff and Civil Process Act, greater use of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, among others.
He noted that the ACJA, in particular, if implemented, “can put an end to the atrocities of SARS and other law enforcement agencies.”
The lawyer made the recommendations in a paper titled: ‘How citizens can curb the excesses of SARS’.
Falana hailed Acting President Yemi Osinbajo for directing Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Ibrahim Idris to review the SARS’ operations,
but urged the police to ensure that indicted police officers were prosecuted and made to pay part of the damages awarded by the courts to victims of police brutality.
He praised the organisers of the #ENDSARS campaign “for forcing the Inspector-General of Police to embark on the reform of the SARS.”
“This must be complemented by the determination of the federal and state Attorneys-General to give fiat to victims of police brutality, to enforce judgment debts awarded by the courts against the Nigeria Police Force.
“Members of the armed forces should be removed from the SARS since it is the constitutional responsibility of the police to maintain law and order in a democratic society.
“Police personnel in the reconstituted SARS should be well trained, well-motivated and well equipped to deal with crimes in the society. In addition, the teaching of basic human rights ought to be made compulsory in the police academy and similar institutions.”
The lawyer noted that it was the duty of state governments, which fund the operations of the SARS, to monitor its activities and prevent it from violating the rights of the people in each state of the federation.
He said the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the Office of the Public Defender (OPD) in each state should ensure that the excesses of law enforcement agencies are curbed.
According to him, the Nigerian Bar Association and the human rights community should embark on mass enlightenment of Nigerians with respect to the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution.
“They should also educate citizens on their basic rights under the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 and Anti Torture Act, 2017.”
Falana said in 2014, he received complaints pertaining to alleged disappearance of robbery suspects in police custody.
Said he: “In the course of investigating the complaints, our law firm found that no fewer than 532 robbery and kidnap suspects were arrested, detained and paraded at crowded news conferences addressed by police commissioners in all states of the federation. To my utter dismay, the majority of the suspects were illegally executed by the operatives of the SARS”
Falana advised the relations and friends of any suspect killed in police custody to press charges against the culprits.
“Where the identity of the culprits is not disclosed, an inquest should be conducted to identify them with a view to prosecuting them. The government should also be made to pay compensation to the families of suspects who are killed illegally in police custody,” he said.
Falana called on the National Assembly to repeal Section 84 of the Sheriff and Civil Process Act, which provides that a judgment creditor cannot garnishee the accounts of a public institution without seeking and obtaining the fiat of Attorneys-General.” - The Nation
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