The House of Representatives has asked the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Adamu, to provide it with comprehensive records of disciplinary or judicial actions taken against officers of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), accused of abuse of power in the last five years.
This came up on Wednesday, following a motion under matters of urgent national importance, sponsored by Majority Leader of the House, Hon. Alhassan Ado Doguwa, on the need to urgently halt the reported excesses of the special unit of the Nigeria Police Force.
The House in its resolution also directed the IGP to produce an immediate plan for identifying and compensating victims of such abuses, as well as take decisive action to stop the brutality and human rights violation by SARS, and report his actions to the House within three weeks.
The House further mandated its joint committee on justice, human rights and police affairs, to monitor compliance by the IGP as well as conduct a public hearing on human rights violations by SARS officers and report back its findings within six weeks for further legislative action, as it agreed to amend existing laws, and specifically, section 215(5) of the 1999 Constitution, by replacing it with provisions that ensure a judicial review of police actions, as well as a framework for holding police officers accountable for their actions while performing their duties, among others.
Prior to presentation of the motion, Speaker of the House, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila had in a remark hinted that urgent steps would be taken to ensure more reforms in the force. “Over the next thirty days, the House of Representatives will work with the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), with civil society and with Nigerians of good conscience to draft new legislation that establishes a system of independent accountability…”.
According to him, the expected legislation would create a system for “erring members of the Police Force to account for their conduct in the performance of their duties and imposes civil and criminal liability for violations of the Police Code; and also compels the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) to take responsibility for the failures of training and discipline that leads to such violations”.
The speaker said; “Every day, throughout our country, interactions between the police and our citizens result in acts of horrific brutality, extortion, and retribution against the Nigerian people. Too many of the people we have assigned to protect our citizens have shown themselves unworthy of that calling. Their actions betray our trust and wreak unquantifiable damage on the already frayed fabric of our society.
“Unfortunately, many of those who have betrayed our trust in this manner are never answerable for their actions. At the heart of this fundamental failure lies the unavoidable truth that we do not have an independent framework for ensuring that members of the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) are appropriately held to account when they fail to adhere to the policies and laws that govern their operations.
“We have long expected the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) to police itself. It is now abundantly clear that this was the wrong call. For the benefit of a functioning system of policing in Nigeria, it is now necessary that parliament steps in to introduce an independent, fair and practical approach to ensure that those to whom we grant the authority to act in the name of the State, are held to the highest standards of professional conduct.”
