Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo on Sunday said he was angry about the actions of some operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, accusing them of harassing and sometimes maiming and killing innocent Nigerians nationwide.
Osinbajo, who spoke in an interview with State House correspondents at his official residence in Akinola Aguda House, Presidential Villa, Abuja, noted that such actions coming from those charged with the responsibilities of protecting citizens were unacceptable, unlawful and objectionable.
The professor of Law, said those who engage in such acts should to be investigated and prosecuted.
He, commended the police authorities for the decision to ban some of the Tactical Teams from routine patrols saying it was wrong for policemen to be seizing laptops and phones from young Nigerians in the name of fighting cybercrime.
His words: “I am very concerned and in fact sometimes angry about what I see happening to young men and women who are arrested and, in some cases, maimed or killed by men of the police force, in some cases, those who man tactical units of the police force such as SARS and other units.
“It is completely objectionable. It is unacceptable. These are individuals who are meant to protect Nigerians. The arrest, maiming, killing of young people, or anyone at all by these individuals is completely wrong. It is unlawful, it is illegal and all those involved ought to be investigated and prosecuted.
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“This afternoon, I had a meeting with the IG of Police, we reviewed several of these issues. The President and I had had discussions on this. He is very concerned about this and he wants to see a reform of this process and I am sure you are probably aware that the IG has issued a statement, looking at all these issues, in particular, warning against the use of these tactical forces such as SARS for the purposes of anything other than anti-bribery as it is supposed to be.
“For example, in the statement, he specifically said that we can’t have a situation where SARS will say they are investigating cybercrime and arresting young men and women who are carrying laptops and their phones.
“Cybercrime is electronic crime. There is no way that you can investigate that by seizing people’s phones in a taxi. I think it is very obvious that this is a major concern. The few bad eggs within the police force are causing a lot of these.”
Osinbajo urged Nigerians to continue to bring the issue regularly to the attention of the government and the police.
He acknowledged and commended the police officers who are doing excellently in the discharge of their duties.
