Many Nigerians on Saturday expressed anger over the activities of men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Nigerian police, calling for the unit to be scrapped or banned.
The #EndSars hashtag was the number one trend on social media app, Twitter for several hours, bringing back to the fore calls for the proper handling of rogue, high-handed police officials.
Saturday’s outrage appeared to have been triggered by a post from a Twitter user who said he recorded SARS officials shooting “a young boy dead at Ughelli, Delta state . . . in front of Wetland hotels. They left him for dead on the roadside and drove away with the deceased Lexus jeep.”
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It is yet unclear what actually took place in Delta but when contacted, Commissioner of Police in Delta State, Hafiz Inuwa, told Channels Television that his men did not shoot anyone.
“What happened was that they were on patrol when they saw a Lexus jeep parked by the roadside,” he said. “Immediately, the Lexus jeep saw the patrol jeep, they just zoomed off.”
The police gave chase, caught up with the Lexus, and occupied it, Inuwa said. However, one of the suspects tried to jump out of the moving vehicle and, in the process, sustained injuries. “He is still alive and in hospital,” the Commissioner said.
This Ughelli issue has however continued to generate reactions on social media has Nigerians have come out to condemn the activities of this unit of the Police.
Lagos State Governor,Babajide Sanwo-Olu tweeted; “The safety of our residents is my number one duty as the CSO of Lagos. So, reading reports of seemingly unlawful exploitation by the people charged to protect is very worrying & needs to be addressed immediately. Be assured that appropriate actions will be taken, & speedily too.”
Minister of Youths and Sports,Sunday Dare tweeted; “If we stigmatize our youth as criminals, paint them all with one brush as ‘yahoo boys ‘within our boarders, harass, attack & arrest them indiscriminately even before they get D chance to defend themselves-aren’t we as a country destroying their reputation and chances to succeed?”
