Northern governors endorse police brutality, request Buhari to restore SARS

The 19 northern governors in Nigeria on Thursday covertly endorsed police brutality and extra-judicial killings perpetuated by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigeria Police on Nigerian youths in the south, thus, opposing the dissolution SARS by the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, on the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari last Sunday. The northern governors led by GovernorSimon Lalong of Plateau State, Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum, rushed to Abuja on Thursday for a meeting with President Buhari at the State House, Abuja, to demand the president to restore  SARS.

Governor Lalong in media interaction with State House Correspondents, emphasized that SARS was not only comprised of bad elements and was useful to fighting bandits in the north. According to Governor Lalong, “SARS is not made up of bad elements alone as it also includes personnel who are doing their work diligently.” The governor maintained that SARS and other units of the Nigeria Police only require reformation to enable it to perform its duties effectively.

Meanwhile, the #ENDSARS protests have spread to some parts of the north which include Kaduna and Kwara states. In other northern states, the youths have also gone on rampage, agitating for #ENDisecuritynow, seeking an end to Boko Haram terrorists and bandits in the northeast, northwest and others.

The #ENDSARS protests erupted after a trending video on the social media of a brutal killing of a youth in Delta State. The #ENDSARS spread fast to other states and overseas; and has persisted till Thursday.