Hip hop musician, Damini Ogulu, aka Burna Boy, is currently cooling his heels in the custody of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Lagos State Command.

The embattled artiste has spent two days with criminals held in a SARS cell for offences ranging from robbery to theft.

He was reportedly being investigated for conspiracy in the robbery of his colleague, Abiye Jumbo aka Mr. 2Kay.

Burna Boy, who was declared wanted by the state Commissioner of Police, Edgal Imohimi, on November 20, was apprehended on Friday and detained.

Four suspects, including Burna Boy’s road manager, Joel Kantiok, had been paraded for allegedly robbing Mr. 2Kay on October 22, in his room at Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, shortly after “Buckwyld N Breathless” concert held in the facility.

During the parade, the suspects, except Kantiok, confessed to have carried out the attack on the order of Burna Boy.

The assailants had disguised as room service officials to gain entry into the singer’s room.

They reportedly beat him up and dispossessed him of a wristwatch, gold jewellery, phones among other valuables estimated at millions of naira at gunpoint.

They subsequently tied him up and fled with their loot.

A police source told our correspondent on Saturday that the singer was still making statements to detectives.

The source said, “He is currently in the SARS custody and he is helping the police in the investigation. For now, I can’t say categorically what his charges will be but definitely they are related to robbery for which the other suspects were arraigned.”

Another police officer, who is privy to the case, said Burna Boy’s arraignment might not come up on Monday as planned, noting that investigators wanted to present watertight charges against him before the http://www.mcebisco.com.ng/2017/12/nigerian-musician-burna-boy-in-sars.html

Former Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mike Mbama Okiro, is currently Chairman, Police Service Commission.

In the following interview, he spoke about the controversies swirling round the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigeria Police, the state of security in the nation, and more.

Excerpts:-

There is controversy over the activities of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Nigeria Police (SARS), mostly on the conduct of operatives. Some people have even called for its scrap. How do you think the matter should be handled?

Mike Okiro: This issue of SARS is dogged by what I call ‘policy somersault’. A government official, or a government makes a policy and another government comes and changes the policy or abandons it. This is what is causing it.

SARS started with me as the Deputy Commissioner of Police Operations in Ikeja, Lagos, when the infamous armed robber called Shina Rambo was having a field day in 1991. His modus operandi was to snatch cars and begin a shooting spree in a convoy of gunmen. He was so brazen that he even shot at policemen at checkpoints. There was no way to stop him. So, I and the then commissioner, Ademola, came up with the Special Anti-Robbery Squad.
The idea was that they would be in mufti, and armed, simply for the very important element of surprise.

They would take cover, and communicating with walkie-talkies, hit the armed robbers. They did that two or three times, and the robbery attacks went down, drastically, and at a point stopped altogether. Soon SARS started spreading, from Lagos to other states. And I began to notice that at every roadblock, you will see armed policemen, but in mufti. Now, how do you differentiate between a policeman and an armed robber?

The initial idea of the operatives wearing mufti, like I said, is for the element of surprise. So I’d say the original idea of SARS has been bastardised. The squad was feared before, and I mean by criminals. When there was a robbery in a bank, SARS would move there because they were trained. They also knew themselves because there was nothing like cross-firing. Every command had SARS standing by.

But by the time it spread to other states, it seemed like anyone would be carrying arms, dressed in mufti, with a T-shirt with SARS emblazoned on it. Anybody can wear such an outfit. They even go into cases of bounced cheques and shady business transactions. SARS business is not to investigate, but to hit. It’s a Special Anti-Robbery Squad, not an investigative one.

DT: There’s a call that started from social media, and spilled over to actual protests to scrap SARS. What is your take?

Okiro: We cannot throw away the bathwater with the baby. It cannot be scrapped, rather there is the need to get back to its original concept, to hit robbers and come back. Sometimes robbers take position, waiting for police patrol vehicles to come, not knowing that SARS are passing in a private vehicle.

SARS needs to be restructured and not scrapped completely. The police is meant to fight crime, they should be allowed to do their jobs in the most effective way. If they are deviating from the concept, they should be called back on the right track. Ending SARS is like the police stopping their fight against robbers.

DT: Another issue that seems to have refused to go away is that of kidnapping, especially on the Abuja-Kaduna highway. Do you think, with an effective SARS, kidnappings can be curbed?

Okiro: Yes, I believe it can. This takes me back to when I was Commissioner of Police in Lagos, when robberies were carried out in road traffic, and robbers with guns or knives went car-to-car. I couldn’t cover the whole length and breadth of Lagos roads, it wasn’t possible. We went back to the drawing board and got some vehicles with policemen dressed in veils, but armed. After we countered the robberies several times, they stopped. Like I said, earlier, the efficiency of SARS relies on the element of surprise. However, I repeat: It should not be involved in investigations.

DT: How do you feel about the non-passage of the Nigeria Police Force Reform Trust Fund Bill?

Okiro: I feel sad, as the passage of the bill is supposed to prepare the police more and then create an avenue for its funding. The federal government is not capable of funding the police completely, because if the revenue is lean, ou have to cut your coat according to your cloth. The federal government cannot give all it has to the police, as there are other areas that need attention.

But right now the police is not properly funded. Initially, that bill was supposed to create an avenue through which there would be direct funding. If the police force cannot even take care of itself, how can it take care of other people? So, there’s a need for funding, and that can be addressed and solved by the Police Force Reform Trust Fund Bill.

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Ace radio presenter Kwadwo Asare Baffour Acheampong (KABA) has been laid to rest at the Osu Cemetery in Accra after a pre-burial ceremony.

KABA was laid to rest around midday of Saturday, December 16, 2017, as many family members, colleagues and mourners bid farewell to the late ‘Ekosii Sen’ host.

The choir and the Men of God from the Gethsemane Methodist Church in Mamprobi led the burial service.

This was after hundreds including government officials and traditional leaders throng the forecourt of the State House to their last respect to the late journalist.

The pre-burial service which drew hundred saw family members, colleagues, politicians, friends and loved ones paying glowing tribute to the ace presenter...http://www.mcebisco.com.ng/2017/12/youll-cry-after-seeing-these-photos-of.html

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