19102020 - #EndSARS: Stop Army's planned Op Crocodile Smile

On FG’s intentions on Amnesty
Programme
18—Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2020
IN one of his rare public out
ings, the National Security Adviser,
NSA, retired Major General
Mohammed Babagana Monguno,
penultimate weekend appeared to
confirm the worst fears of some
stakeholders in the Niger Delta
when he announced that he had
advised President Muhammadu
Buhari to scrap the Presidential
Amnesty Programme, PAP.
The NSA complained that the
eleven-year-old programme has
gulped N712 billion which he said
is “basically unaccounted for, and
this is due to so many issues, corruption
being the main thing”. He
also said the programme was not
supposed to continue indefinitely.
“There is no place on the surface
of this earth where programmes
that are supposed to be palliatives
will continue forever”.
A confusing element was the introduction
of retired Col. Milland
Dikio, whom the NSA said had been
charged to “refocus” the programme.
But now the question: Is
the Federal Government refocusing
the programme or winding it down?
There is a need for clarification on
government’s exact intentions.
Indeed, the PAP was not meant to
become a permanent, statutory programme
like the activities of the Niger
Delta Development Commission,
NDDC. The monthly payouts
and funds dedicated to the rehabilitation
of ex-militants and their
sponsors were not meant to continue
ad infinitum. After all, the militancy
has since died down.
However, Niger Delta stakeholders
and beneficiaries of the PAP
funds insist that the militancy died
down because of the PAP, and that
the nation risks a resumption of
militancy in our oil-rich zone if this
programme is scrapped. The Federal
Government is left to weigh the
opportunity cost of continuing the
payouts or risking the possible return
of disruptions in the oil industry
and our economy.
We are convinced that, at least for
now, the programme should be continued
until we outgrow the capacity
of militants to hold the country’s
economy by the jugular. It is a
matter of applying wisdom rather
than logic or ego. Sometimes it is
best to let the sleeping dog lie.
It is disheartening, however, that
over five years after taking over the
reins of power, the Buhari government
that puts a great premium on
anti-corruption continues to lament
over alleged corruption in this programme
which is administered
right from his office. Why has it
taken until now to “refocus” the
programme?
Even if the PAP is to be scrapped,
Col. Dikio should gradually wind
it down and its functions and funds
transferred to the NDDC by 2023
when the Buhari regime ends.
There are many useful programmes
the PAP is handling such as the apprenticeship
and scholarship
schemes. These should not be
stopped.
Buhari should kill the prebendal
corruption in the PAP without altogether
abandoning the roles it
plays in upgrading human capacity
in the Niger Delta.
OPINION
#EndSARS: Beyond reforms, restructuring and bans
BY SHITTU YUNUS SHITTU
HISTORY has it that the special
anti-robbery squad came into
existence when one Israel Rindam, a
gallant Nigerian Army colonel, was
killed by police officers at a checkpoint
in Lagos in 1992. Nigerian soldiers
flooded the streets of Lagos in search
of any police officer, leading to the
withdrawal of Nigeria police personnel
from checkpoints, security areas
and other points of interest for criminals.
The then increase in crime rate as a
result of the police absence birthed
the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, with
just 15 officers working in the dark
without the army’s knowledge when
tracking police radio chatter. Normal
policing duties didn’t resume until after
two weeks of dialogue between the
Nigerian Army and the Nigeria Police.
It is important to note that the SARS
unit was instrumental to the arrest of
most of the notorious criminals in
many parts of the country. As record
may have it, as at 2017, SARS has been
able to arrest more than 3,000 suspected
kidnappers across the country. In
fact, the successes recorded in reducing
the high rate of crime and criminality,
especially kidnapping and other
deadly vices in most parts of the
country, is largely the handiwork of
SARS operatives.
Unfortunately, in late 2017, Nigerian
human rights defenders and activists
launched massive campaign
tagged #EndSARS which was aimed
at addressing widespread human
There is a need for an
effective oversight
mechanism to regulate
the conduct of police
officers with a view to
bringing an end to
human rights violations
by SARS in the
country
ees to assume stressful bodily positions
and sexual violence.
In reaction to the public widespread
outcry which gained international attention,
Federal Government repeatedly
reformed SARS. On August 14,
2018, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo
had ordered an immediate reform of
SARS after a widespread public outcry
against their conduct. He also directed
the National Human Rights
Commission, NHRC, to set up a judicial
panel to investigate SARS alleged
unlawful activities.
Prior to the recent ban on SARS operations
after another public outcry
over the squad’s illegalities, the Nigeria
Police Force had in December
2017, June 2018, January 2019 and
in February this year, made related
announcements of a ban of SARS and
an immediate restructuring of the outfit
so that rogue SARS officers would
be prevented from violating citizen’s
rights, extorting, torturing and extrajudicially
executing innocent citizens.
It is evident that restructuring SARS
is not enough unless government also
takes concrete steps to protect vulnerable
Nigerians from police abuses.
Needless to say, there is a critical
need for the positive impacts of the
professional, effective SARS operations
in improving national security.
As a matter of fact, some SARS operatives
have been parts of several tactical
and successful operations across
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rights violations, including extrajudicial
executions, torture and other illtreatment,
rape and extortion by officers
of the SARS.
Similarly, reports by Amnesty International
revealed that detainees in
SARS custody have been subjected to
a variety of torture, including hanging,
mock execution, beating, punching
and kicking, burning with cigarettes,
waterboarding, near-asphyxiation
with plastic bags, forcing detainthe
country.
Some of these operations by good
security agents, including some SARS
operatives, were duly acknowledged
and celebrated at the maiden Security
and Emergency Management
Awards, SAEMA 2019, an event
which I initiated through Emergency
Digest, a leading emergency and crisis
news platform in sub-Sahara Africa.
I, therefore, would not recommend
a total ban of the police unit. I only
urge the Federal Government and the
Nigeria Police Force to adopt a different
approach in ensuring accountability
for violations. There is a need for
an effective oversight mechanism to
regulate the conduct of police officers
with a view to bringing an end to human
rights violations by SARS in the
country.
Overhauling SARS is long overdue.
The far-reaching, immediate effect of
the overhaul will translate into ending
torture, unlawful detention, extortion,
extrajudicial executions and
other serious human rights violations
that the officers had been accused of
committing for years across the country.
*Shittu, Manager of Emergency
Digest and convener of the annual
Security and Emergency Management
Awards, SAEMA, wrote from
Abuja. He can be reached via:
mailsyshittu@gmail.com