SWAT: Another Problem Has Changed Names
Sequel to the #EndSARS protests that have been going on in several cities in Nigeria and around the world to put an end to the notorious Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigerian Police Force, the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Muhammadu A. Adamu on Sunday, October 11, issued a statement, “dissolving” the police unit. In that statement, he itemized five key points, one of which stated that members of the rogue police unit would be “redeployed to other Police Commands, Formations and Units” of the police force, while another stated that “a new policing arrangement for tackling the offences of armed robbery and other violent crimes will be unveiled to the public soon.” A move that did not bode well with the thousands of youths protesting against police brutality, extortion and extrajudicial killings, as even more brutality was meted on peaceful protesters afterwards, and gun totting, trigger happy police officers still went ahead to shoot at crowds, which resulted in the deaths of several people in Ogbomoso.
By yesterday, October 12, the president finally came out with a speech in which he criticized the actions of “a few bad eggs,” in the police force, and by virtue of his speech, reinforced the dissolution of the SARS unit of the police. This was also met with criticism, and once again, the members of the police force at large, refused to comply with these directives which unfortunately resulted in the killing of Mr. Ikechukwu Iloh and one police man, as well as injuring several others who needed immediate medical care.
To paraphrase the popular American comedian and actor, Chris Rocks, a police force cannot afford to have a few bad eggs, but the Nigerian Police Force has shown the Nigerian people, time and again, that it has more than just a few bad eggs.
Some of the concerns raised by Nigerians, myself included, were that the plan of action put forward by Mr. Adamu were from a template we’ve all seen before and have come to know all too well, and also the fact that the plan revealed no timeline for the implementation of these new policies. If I am permitted a bit of sensationalism at this point, I’d say that this skepticism is borne out of the fact that when you live long (or short) enough in Nigeria, you get to see everything repeat itself at least once, or five or six times. A wash, rinse, repeat cycle.
Today however brought news—amidst more protests by Nigerian youths—of the introduction of a new police unit quite unoriginally dubbed the Special Weapons and Tactics team, as itemized by Item 3 on the list of reforms promised by the Inspector General of Police just two days ago. According to the release on the Nigerian Police Force’s official Twitter account, the IGP ordered all defunct SARS personnel to report to the Force Headquarters for debriefing, and psych and medical evaluation, and also stated that the new tactical team is to commence training from next week.
The press release also seems to confirm the fears of many Nigerians as it vaguely but quite obviously suggests that it is these same operatives from the now dissolved SARS unit that are going to be injected back into the new tactical team, after undergoing medical examination by the newly set-up Police Counselling and Support Unit (I am not very surprised that such a thing never existed before now). The same brutal and murderous police unit is getting a face lift.
Wash, rinse, repeat.
We’ve been through this phase before in other sectors in everyday Nigerian. A good example is when the already ailing National Electric Power Authority was privatized and became Power Holding Company of Nigeria, and in 2013, was split into many smaller companies, all still operating on the template of the founding NEPA. This seems to have become the norm over time as the government has shown a certain penchant for clinging to problematic situations and rebranding them against the wishes of the citizen, as opposed to judiciously putting in the work required to actually make things better.
To call a spade a spade and a shovel what it is, the newly created SWAT team and all the accompanying sweet talk seems no different, and smells of incompetently made decisions which don’t seem to have the best interests of the protesting Nigerian youths, and Nigerians at large, at heart.