A group under the auspice of Association of South East Town Unions (ASETU), has berated the proposed establishment of Special Weapons And Tactical Team, (SWAT), by Nigeria’s Inspector General of Police, Mohammad Adamu.
The South East group posited that the proposed SWAT was an antic by disgruntled officers in police hierarchy to shield men of the disbanded Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad, F-SARS from prosecution.
The Association said SWAT cannot end police brutality on innocent citizens, emphasizing that the unveiled Special Weapons And Tactical Team, SWAT, was ill thought out and as well, an incentive to the escalation of violent crimes in Nigeria.
The South East Town Unions stated its feelings which was contained in a statement signed by National President, Chief Emeka Diwe and made available to journalists in Umuahia, on Friday.
DAILY POST had reported that the Inspector General of Police, Mohammad Adamu, on Tuesday, announced the creation of Special Weapons and Tactical Team, SWAT to tackle act of criminal activities in the country following current security threat by the dreaded Boko Haram terrorists, bandits, armed-robbery and kidnapping.
But Association of South East Town Unions (ASETU), in the press statement, expressed disappointment with the Police Authority, posited that instead of IGP Mohammad Adamu first putting in motion an arrangement to investigate the allegations of abuses perpetrated by men of SARS, he hurriedly announced that he had disbanded F-SARS.
Parts of the ASETU statement read, “The manner that the so-called disbandment of SARS has been done appears more like a political action instead of a comprehensive security measure. Nobody is in doubt that there is need for a unit of the police which should specialize in combating high-risk crimes like armed robbery. This is the tradition the world over. However, the action of the IGP in dissolving SARS without first raising and training a new dedicated unit to combat violent crimes has created a security lacuna of extremely dangerous proportions.
“What will be the fate of Nigerians between now and when the IGP will eventually come up with a new policing arrangement to address the issue of armed robbery. Our contention is that the scrapping of SARS, which has been done without first addressing the fundamental questions of abuse and brutality, seems engineered from above to give a soft landing to a notorious gang of untrained policemen who have serially killed, robbed and maimed Nigerians”.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), has advised the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, to stay action on the implementation of Special Weapons and Tactical Team (SWAT).
Adamu had announced that the new team will replace the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).
The Governors, in a communiqué on Thursday, said they held a meeting with Adamu on the formation.
