Kolade Johnson: Osinbajo’s reforms not working, Amnesty International slams SARS

Amnesty International has lambasted the Special Anti-Robbery
Squad which was accused of killing Kolade Johnson, who was shot
dead while watching a Premier League match on Olu Aboderin Street,
Lagos, on Sunday.

AI said the call to scrap SARS and reform the police had not
been taking seriously.

It said efforts put in place by the President Muhammadu
Buhari-led government had failed even as it blamed the judiciary
for failing to punish police torture.

The organisation said SARS continues to use torture to extract
confessions from suspects, adding that the police unit seems not to
be accountable to anyone.

A series of tweets posted by AI read, “Once again SARS is in the
news for alleged brutalisation of Nigerians. We have several times
called for #EndSARS.

“SARS is a police unit created to protect the people, instead it
has become a danger to society, torturing its victims with complete
impunity while fomenting a toxic climate of fear and
corruption.

“Many attempts to reform SARS, including the one ordered by
@ProfOsinbajo in August last year have been ineffective. Nigerians
are still brutalized by SARS. Restructuring SARS is not enough
unless the government takes concrete steps to protect
Nigerians.

“Our research since 2016 uncovered a pattern of ruthless human
rights violations by SARS, where victims are arrested and tortured
until they either make a ‘confession’ or pay officers a bribe to be
released.

“Apart from brutality, some police officers in SARS regularly
demand bribes, steal and extort money from criminal suspects and
their families. SARS officers are getting rich through their
brutality. In Nigeria, it seems that torture is a lucrative
business.”