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SARS: Reform Rather Than Abolish by Paul Akherialea.

Cmoni / October 9, 2020

It is always disheartening whenever I recall that the ones we are suppose to run to for help are now the ones we run away from. Indeed, it has gotten out of hand and the recent ban action of the Federal Government was not only timely but also necessary. I do not think anything can suffice to being truthful, sincere and innocent yet having your life at the mercy of a police officer who in a jiffy can end all the beautiful dreams and leave your loved ones with scars in their hearts that may never heal just because of a few ‘penny’. I have seen how SARS officers would shove innocent youths and even teenagers into the back of their squad car, punching and pushing them. Scared and stunned about what was happening yet they cannot help themselves or say a word. The most saddening aspect of it all is that, some of these victims do not even know why they are being arrested or what they had done wrong. Unarguably, the increase of fatal police interactions, oppression, intimidation, harassment, outright extortion, armed robbery and even rape of the Nigerian masses who strive every day for a better life has grossly deteriorated the name and honor of the Nigeria Police Force and consequently, the nation. However, we still cannot demean the good works of the Nigeria Police, particularly, SARS. The fear of being caught by this ‘unexpected guests’ has made many slums and ghettos refrain from so many immoral practices. Undoubtedly, SARS has gradually help to curb the rate of ‘internet robbery’ of the group of fraudsters we commonly call the ‘yahoo boys’. Juvenile delinquency and deviationist practices such as rape, drug abuse, robbery, carnage, mayhem among others have been gradually reduced. Although, in 1992 when this branch of the Nigeria Police Force was founded by former police commissioner; Simeon Danlandi Midenda, it wasn’t a round table planned work but a quick intervention to bring peace to the uproar in Lagos, when Colonel Rindam, a Nigerian Army Colonel was killed by police officers, today, to an extent, it has served it purposes as regarding its modus operandi in the Nigeria Police Force. Therefore, looking at it from both sides, though I’ve had my own share of the sour experience of how inhumane and brutal FSARS can be, I opine that rather than totally abolishing the role of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS) it should be reformed. But this time, thoroughly reformed. The founder and former police commissioner; Simeon Danlandi Midenda, said this firsthand, “The secret behind the successes of the original SARS was its facelessness and its mode of operation. We operated in plain clothes and used plain vehicles that could not be associated with security or any government agency. Members could not carry Walkie Talkie openly talk less of guns. With the spate of robberies in Lagos, we realized the danger of carrying weapons openly. We also realized that by carrying weapons openly, we have destroyed the element of surprise”.1 Taking a close look at the modus operandi of SARS during its formation, you would agree with me that the major reason for their recent unbearable actions is because they have deviated from their role. Recently, Nigerian award-winning musician, Mr. Eazi tweeted, “Dear Nigerian leaders, we need police reform laws urgently. It’s been 15 years since the killing of the #ApoSix and our young men and women are still being harassed by those who should protect us.”2 According to his comment, police reform laws are urgently needed. I also, buy into this idea. Now more than ever, FSARS needs a thorough purging and overhauling. In Chemical Engineering (which I am currently pursuing my first degree in) I am taught that when a system is clogged with particulate solids, these clogs are removed by a method called purging. Purging is a process of removing the clogs in a system by means of applying pressure. I hold firm the belief that the major reason the reformation operation of FSARS has not been efficient over the years is because the necessary pressure has not been applied. At the accurate temperature, every substance melts, not excluding diamond. I believe this also finds application in this case. Rigid rules on prosecution and ‘actual’ prosecution must be put in place to flush away every clog from the system. Further, In August 2018, Yemi Osinbajo, Vice President, as the Acting President, ordered the IGP, Idris, to overhaul SARS management and activities. Osinbajo said that the unit that will emerge from the ‘process’, must be intelligence-driven and restricted to the prevention and detection of armed robbery and kidnapping, and apprehension of offenders linked to the stated offences.3 Against this, Omoyele Sowore, an activist and publisher of Sahara Reporters described the announcement as a scam, and recalled a similar action in 2017. He said they rebranded SARS to FSARS in 2017 and since then SARS has killed more youths, adding that only a disbandment and dismantling of SARS is acceptable. From my point of view, while it is true that there have been more recent negative reports of abuse, torture and killings by some SARS officers, the upsides of crime rate and killings they have resisted should also be counted and considered.4 Undoubtedly, the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) have been doing very well in fighting violent crimes such as armed robbery, kidnappings and cattle rustling in the country in the recent time and this has resulted in drastic reduction of incidents of the mentioned violent crimes nationwide.5 In addition, SARS is beyond a ‘Tactical Squad’ put in place by the Nigeria Police Force. SARS are the individual members of it. I believe that it is not arguable that even if the operation of SARS is abolished, most of its members will still find a slot in the Nigeria Police Force. When this happens, the parade of fear and panic may continue. This is because, obviously, the brutality stems up from the heart of the people who make up the FSARS. So, emphatically, I suggest that a thorough reformation of the Nigeria Police Force is what is needed. Also, as a result of the impending uproar and movement of the operation #EndSARS, Big Brother Naija: Lockdown housemate, Ozo, wrote on his page, “SARS is not just a set of

Can El-Rufai Achieve The Abolition Of Almajiri?

The Northern Governors Forum took a collective decision at a meeting we had about two weeks ago that we will end the almajiri system completely, we will abolish it. And part of the steps we took was to return them to their states of origin. We also decided that each state government will take delivery of these almajiri and return them to their parents and ensure that they go to school ~ Nasir El-Rufai Dateline March 2nd 2015: Former First Lady Dame Patience Jonathan who had then usurped the activities of her husband’s presidential campaign mounted the stage at a rally in Calabar and in her boisterous manner exhorted the crowd to stone anybody that tells them about “change”. And in an apparent reference to the almajiri system in the north, she went on to say that “our people no dey born shildren wey dem no dey fit count. Our men no dey born shildren throway for street. We no dey like the people for that side”. Members of the opposition All Progressive Congress went berserk. Mallam Nasir El-Rufai who takes no prisoners and then a gubernatorial candidate took to his Facebook page to excoriate Mrs Jonathan as an “uncivilised, unintelligent, uncouth and prebendal element”. He told the northerners that President Jonathan and his wife hates them with a passion and urged them not to support his re-election bid. The northerners obeyed and Jonathan was voted out. Former Kano state governor Kwankwanso subsequently gloated that the first family had been a victim of Dame Jonathan’s words which he claimed galvanised “people in the north to ensure that Almajiri votes were used to kick them out of the villa.” Today El-Rufai is championing the abolition of almajiri system. What a time to be alive you would say. With his rumoured ambition to return to Abuja some have suggested his recent proclamation could have some political undertone. It makes it even more intriguing given that his close friend — Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the former Emir of Kano — who incidentally is also a crusader for the same cause was only recently deposed. We surely have some interesting times to look forward to. I remember almajiris vividly from my undergraduate days at the University of Maiduguri. There was this particular set that usually ambushed me whenever I collect my allowance from Kasuashanu (cattle market) where our truck drivers drop it with my late father’s business partner. They know I will come every last Friday of the month, so they wait after Jumat to hail me “Anana”, an acronym for Anana Transport Company. I will dole out some change to more elated chants of “Na gode and Allah ya albarkache”. Back then I never felt threatened by a bunch of dusty kids in tattered clothes. I only felt pity when I juxtapose their reality with the fact that I had school mates who rode in exotic vehicles. Some even moved in a convoy of cars whose value could train the almajiris for life. Yet the almajiri system has remained a dividing topic among the northern leaders. An enduring pre-colonial concept which started around the 11th century in Kanem-Borno, it was later replicated in the Sokoto Caliphate following the victorious Jihad of Sheikh Uthman Dan Fodio. Originally designed to present fresh and educationally inclined children the opportunity to tap from experienced Islamic scholars and imbibe the tenets essential for decent Muslim adulthood, it reportedly produced Alhassan Dantata, the one time richest man in West Africa and the grandfather of Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote among many other successful northerners. But it got bastardised over the years by the lowly callous men who breed children in multiples but take little responsibility. And was corrupted by generations of northern elites who send their wards to ivy league institutions abroad while the homeless almajiris often exploited to attain power through underage voting are left to roam the streets supposedly in search of knowledge. Men like Ali Modu Sheriff reportedly used the late Mohammed Yusuf (a known recruiter of almajiris) to his advantage and Sani Yerima confessed that the horde of unemployed masses baying for the Sharia served as a potent weapon against the dominant political force in his state. Both are ex-governors and former senators. Almajiri kids The beautiful pictures of almajiris being taught under the tree in a serene and conducive savannah climate have all but disappeared from memory. Nowadays a typical almajiri school consists of a small room packed with no less than 50 pupils and a stern Mallam who needs the slightest prompt to unleash his horsewhip. And some of the children who travel thousands of miles never get to see their biological parents again. They are brainwashed, abused, trafficked, kidnapped, sodomized and in some cases murdered for evil rituals. The cruelty is stark! Many of these hapless kids exposed to the baseness and megrim of our wicked world at a tender age eventually become the scum of society and willing recruits drafted into banditry and terrorism to satiate the ruthless lust for power among the ruling class. They have grown into the cancerous monster that plagues the north today and which symmetrically threatens our protracted quest for nationhood. And despite its strangle hold on power over the years the statistics from region leaves one in tears. In 2014, a UNICEF report put the estimate of almajiris in Nigeria at 9.5 million. This mob of bowl-carrying children represents about 72% of the country’s 13.2 million out-of-school children. Another study conducted by the World Bank between 2011 and 2016 noted that “poverty in the northern regions of the country has been increasing especially in the north-west zone” where almost half of all poor lived with the north accounting for 87% of poverty in the country. We are now in 2020 and there is a possibility of that these figures have doubled given the economic downturn witnessed in the past few years. That may explain why it didn’t come as a shock to many when more than 300 boys and men including citizens of Mali and Burkinafaso

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SARS: Reform Rather Than Abolish by Paul Akherialea.

Can El-Rufai Achieve The Abolition Of Almajiri?

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