₦airaland Forum

MorataFC:
How come every one that joins Nigeria police suddenly become corrupt.
Bring out ten police men 8 of them are corrupt are we now saying for every ten man in Nigeria 8 of them are corrupt?

Out of every ten men in Nigeria, 9.999 are corrupt, including you and I.

iamoyindamola:
I read they threw his mother from storey building which eventually led to her death while fela was in prison

They threw his mum out the window when they invaded Kalakuta Republic killing her. That's what made Fela sing Unknown Soldier.

I used the scheme in a rap battle one time against Blaqbonez


Why this monkey want test?/ Terry Da Rapman must have 'taught him nonsense'/
Cos he still 'suffering and smiling'. . . even after winning the 'zombie' contest/
This dumb broke joker/ better come no closer/
before I throw his mother off the balcony. . . and make the poor 'fella'. . . blame it on 'unknown soldier'!!!/

iamoyindamola:
I think burna have his own too but he's doing his own on social media.
He arranged boys to rob and beat I think yungsix those guys were arrested and pointed to burna he was let off after signing an undertaking.

Na Mr 2Kay wey Burna beat

afrodoc2:
I was expecting you to address it cos i am sure it was a factor in you saying SARS should be reformed. Those back home sold us the idea that SARS were run-of-the-mill police and that Sod should have stood up to them. We didn't know we had been sold a bill of goods.

Things are hot between the two combatants right now. Bringing up any sort of discussion between them right now is unwise as it could lead to generational curses upon each other

afrodoc2:
I for like ask am as someone who holds both Pa Oshofa and Moses Orimolade in high regard to dig out the posts of those who were mocking someone for not facing SARS back then but are now crying about endSARS.

Na their convincing posts that time say SARS na small thing wey man fit face come make all of us outside the country feel say reform SARS better.

We didn’t know they were misleading us.

I'm surprised this matter hasn't been tackled

BlueRayDick:
Then he shouldn't have honored the invite na. He should've leave it to people who are not lily livered like him na.

If u watch the video well u will see he was set up clean and smooth. After Frank Mba was done with his agenda, he now asked for the cameras to be taken down.

I thought he put out statement saying he is going to make demands of the IG, not knowing he is the one being summoned

DontBullshitMe:
2017?

2018 below. Can't find 2019 but I know Trade Union Congress said Lagos is the only state that does not owe any category of salary or pension.

izzou:
[color=royalblue]Not only Kano, bros..

I have worked in a loan department of a generational bank

We give loans to civil servants up north than even the southerners. Those guys don't owe anything related to salaries

Even states like Yobe, Katsina pay promptly. You can never see their civil servants organising protests. Na South all these nonsense dey happen

I no Sabi about pensions sha[/color]

You are right. Even Borno that is ravaged by Boko boys does not owe any civil servant.

izzou:
[color=royalblue] Some Northern states don't default in salary payments too

Theirs is even surer than the FG[/color]

Maybe Kano. Rivers and AkwaIbom also, but they do default on pensions unlike Lagos.

larride:
Toor

I just believe if it can work in Lagos, it can work in all other states.

Lagos is one of the only states in Nigeria that hasn't defaulted on salaries. Lagos and FG salary is the only sure salary in Nigerian civil service.

States that don't take health workers and teachers serious enough to pay them, why would they pay Police?

larride:
We need a system that work, you can’t keep doing the same thing over and over and expect different result.

We need to do away with this old system if you we want significant improvement as a country. As you take more burden off the FG, we also take more revenue away from them, that way you make the center not too attractive like before.

State Governors already collect billions in security votes every year, wtf do they do with the security votes? We have to bring policing closer to the people, let every state police itself. Let every Local government area has their own version of Sheriff who will be in charge of the police in the LGA and coordinate with the state head of police. It will even make policing more easier and make them more accountable.

Funding the police should be a first line charge. Like say 5% of the revenue every month deducted at source.

The FG will still be in charge of military, airforce and Navy. We can fully domesticate the DSS to do the job the FBI does in the US and create another secret service.

We must not allow politics to stop us from developing the country. The hard decisions must be made. This country must move forward.

Maybe this would work in Yorubaland, not in Niger Delta where the security apparatus and LGA of each locality is run by a local Warlord/militant, and the Governor is put in power by these warlords. No, we will keep our Federal Police jare

larride:
No.

We just need our State Government to do their damn jobs.

Primary and secondary health care are under the purview of the state government

Primary and secondary education are under the purview of the state government

Over 80% of the roads in the country are under the purview of the state government.

We need them to fûcking do their job.

And you want responsibility for Police to go to State Government?

State Government is the most useless Govt in Nigeria. Only Lagos is serious about it.

Should State Governments operate their own Police, they will just become tools in the hands of local warlords and thugs.

Besides, Federal Govt will never allow State Police as Police are the chief instrument of election rigging. That means a PDP State Governor can use State Police to outdo Federal Might of APC in a Gubernatorial election. Even worse, in a Presidential election that will affect the Presidents position itself. That means just having Kano Police under opposition control can cost you the Presidency.

nihilistjnr:
What happens when SARS is ended and police brutality continues?

Because when I dey Naija, na regular cops dey do all the things SARS are being accused of now, from running raiding van in the hood, to stop and search, to extortion, to public execution.

I mean, surely if you're aged 30 and above in Lagos, you remember how you had to have receipt for your laptop, how you didn't need foreign numbers on your phone, how having particulars in your car was pointless, etc.

Maybe all the guys that terrorised my area in my teenage years have graduated into SARS, because this shït sounds like regular Lagos police behaviour to me.

Well, they will give the youth the ENDSARS because politics is about perception and sloganisn. The wider reform of Police must follow if not the same thing will keep happening, this time by Police Officers including former SARS members now integrated into Police

liveLongNprospa:
Ibime dey post story like say that one has anything to do with what youths have been experiencing. Una nor legit get sense punks!

I'm in my house, come and beat me. I'm usually pro-Police and Armed Forces, but you guys made your point well and convinced me of the need to scrap SARS, especially A40.

olabode89:
Lugard was a bad mofo, straight up war dog. Yeah, the Gatling gun was ace for Lugard, dude defeated all of them nothern city states with pristine efficiency.

I didn't even know that records of those killed in skirmishes like the Aba women riot were kept. The crazy thing is that most of them records are kept at libraries in the UK.

The part that pained me was the unnecessary amalgamation and how so easily it could have been two different countries.

Founder of SARS speaks. He made some great points.

Ibime:
How I founded SARS in the Police – RTD CP Midenda.

Recently, there were public demonstrations for and against the continued existence of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, a dreaded anti crime unit of the Nigeria Police Force. The vexatious issue which took the front burner in national discourse resulted in the big question about how SARS came to be. There have been claims and counter-claims. One of the gallant officers of the force whose name kept on ringing bell over the issue is Simeon Danladi Midenda, a retired Commissioner of Police. He was the Nigerian Contingent Commander to United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1998. In the mission, he was appointed Deputy Chief of Operations in Mostar Region. He was Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of Criminal Investigations Department, CID, in Umuahia, Abia state,, Deputy Commissioner, CID in Federal Capital Territory and also Deputy Commissioner, Operation in the Federal Capital Territory. At Force headquarters level, he was the Commissioner of Police, Federal Operations. He finally retired as the Commissioner of Police, Borne State in March 20 12. The search for him to comment on the issue was, no doubt, herculean but rewarding at the end of the day. He spoke volumes about SARS.

Excerpts

In the beginning

SARS was founded by me in 1992. For a proper understanding of this, historical background to its formation is relevant. Anti-Robbery as a modus operandi of the Nigeria Police Force for combating armed robbery has been as old as the Police Force itself. As a unit also, anti-robbery had always existed in all Criminal Investigation Departments at Force Headquarters, Zonal and State Command levels. To claim that I founded SARS, therefore, requires explanation.

Historical background

In 1992, Col. Rindam. a military officer from Plateau State met his death at the hands of police operatives at a check point in Lagos. Upon discovery of that, the army took to the streets in Lagos in search of any policeman. As a result, policemen abandoned the streets in Lagos and withdrew to barracks. Robbers then had a field day in Lagos, operating with impunity. It took two weeks of talks before the military and police authorities succeeded in convincing the army chaps to return to barracks and for the police to come back to the roads. By that time, it was too late. Armed robbers were in control in Lagos and the like of Shina Rambo could not be challenged by any force.

At this time, I was in-charge of Anti Robbery Unit of the State CID in Benin. Benin

was notorious for armed robbery but my unit and I brought the armed robbers to their knees forcing them to flee out of Benin. Then one day. I was summoned to the office of the

Commissioner of police in Benin and when I got there, the Commissioner of Police handed over a copy of a signal message from the Inspect-General of Police for me to read. The IGP then was Alhaji Aliyu Attah. The message was simple: “CP, I congratulate you. I have observed with keen interest that no robbery was recorded in Benin for the past nine days.” The CP looked up at me and said have you seen that? It is from the IGP himself”, I replied “yes sir”. He then gave me some words of encouragement and asked me to keep it up.

Not quite one month after this and amidst happenings in Lagos, the then Commissioner of Police in Benin, Late James Danbaba was moved to Lagos. Barely one month after, I was also transferred to Lagos but the then CP Osanaye, who took over from Mr. Danbaba refused to release me and wrote a letter of appeal to the IGP requesting him to rescind the decision to transfer me out of Benin. A week later, a bombshell came from the IGP. I was ordered to report in Lagos within three hours. This time, I was a Superintendent of Police.

Formation of SARS

I reported in Lagos as ordered. I met late James Danbaba as the Commissioner of Police, Sir Mike Mbama Okiro, former IGP and the present Chairman, Police Service

Commission, as Deputy Commissioner of Police, Operations and late Abdulyekini

Adoeye, as the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Administration. They asked me to set up an anti-robbery team strong enough to make sure robbers were dislodged from Lagos. To start with, fifteen fully armed men and two plain coloured Peugeot station wagons were given to me. Mr. Taiwo Lakanu, now an Assistant Inspector-General of Police, AIG, was appointed my second in command. It must be noted that at this time, there were already three anti-robbery squads operating in Lagos. One, that of Force CID, Alagbon Close but based at Adeniji-Adele, one attached to Zone two command and the third at Panti, Lagos state CID.

With the existence of these three separate anti-robbery units already operating in

Lagos therefore, I needed a name that was unique with which my own team was to be called and communicated with. After several days of trying to coin a name, I failed to come up with a unique name, catchy and strong enough to send a message that somebody different was in town. At the end, I simply added the word ‘Special’ to the already existing Anti-Robbery Squad and it came up with “Special anti-Robbery Squad” abbreviated as SARS. That was how the name SARS came into the Nigeria Police vocabulary. Before this time, Special Anti-robbery Squad as a name or the abbreviation SARS never appeared in any kind of police communications.

Modus Operandi

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. We will now be known by robbers while they will remain unknown.

We were fully combatant and combat ready at all times. We stayed under cover while monitoring radio communication of conventional police operatives. As soon as robbery was reported anywhere in Lagos, we went out with speed, each team to a predetermined location. At our various locations, we patiently waited while the conventional policemen continued to chase the robbers around Lagos. In their bid to escape, the robbers almost always fell into our traps and met their waterloo. All robbers arrested in combat had no option but give us details of their composition and numbers of the operations they had carried out before their arrest. This information were used to solve previous cases of robberies and gave us names of other robbers still on the loose to go after. We never stood on the road looking for robbers. We met them in their beds. We did not also receive direct complaints from members of the public but allowed the DPOs to do their job and hand over to us established cases of armed robbery for further follow up action. In the same vein, alter taking over a case from DPO but failed to link their suspects with any robbery, we usually sent them back to the DPO for them to be charged with lesser offences.

Challenges

Our operations were not without challenges. Chief among difficulties was the issue of injured robbers. It is highly difficult to arrest a robber without application of force except, probably, if he is met at his place of leisure. Robbers arrested during shoot out will most likely be dead or injured. The injured ones were those giving us information and preserving them was most paramount to us. There was no money voted for treatment of injured suspects. So, when we took suspects to hospitals, we paid from our pockets. Courts also were not receiving injured robbers except when they were properly treated. If we struggled to meet up with the requirements of the court, the same rejection awaited us at the prison. Another challenge was the risk of our lives. Any day we went out on operation, none of us was sure of coming back alive. In the eight years I headed SARS in Lagos, I lost twelve operatives and sixteen informants to robbers. Our being underground saved most of us.

SARS at present

SARS as earlier conceived, operated as I have analysed for eight years while I remained as the head. Until the year 2002 when I was transferred to head the state CID in Umuahia, SARS never existed outside Lagos. Today, SARS exists in every state command. How it got to where it is today, I have no knowledge. One thing that is clear to me is that they have deviated from the original concept. The controversies engulfing SARS today will not disappear unless they return to the original concept. They should undergo reorientation and thereafter, disappear from public view and remain faceless. They should avoid receiving direct complaints from members of the public as most cases received that way will eventually be civil issue but printed in armed robbery colour.

On Control from Abuja

SARS from its inception is a crime fighting outfit. They are to respond instantly to robberies as they occur. For it to be effective, it needs to be under someone who will instantly call them out as incidents occur; someone who will monitor and modify their operations as they progress. Such functions can’t be performed by a Commissioner of Police in Abuja as SARS are located in all the states. The command Commissioners who confront robbers as events are unfolding should take charge. They are there on the spot. Cases of unresolved robberies should be left to the State Criminal Investigations Departments to investigate. Anybody claiming to be SARS Commissioner of Police in Abuja cannot directly monitor and control operations as robberies occur.

olabode89:
I have seen the first 6 episodes, really informative series.

I stopped at the Aba women's riots. I did not know 95% of those killed were in Opobo. I always thought the thing only happened in Aba.

The one wey trip me na how Lugard conquered Kaduna, Kano, Sokoto, Katsina and Bornu empire with just two machine guns. Oboy technology good oh. Sultan of Sokoto came out with 15,000 men and 650 men with two machine guns chased him from Sokoto to Maiduguri.

Who is watching "Journey of an African Colony" on Netflix about the history of Nigeria. Very interesting program

macjireh:
D's was what I expected,, at least work solely wit d bank maybe wit d help of a lawyer they can freeze d account,,but still,,no headway

That is the bank problem. Bank does not need Police to freeze an account if they suspect some fraudulent activity. Banks themselves have fraud department and should be able to freeze any account that has received funds from a stolen account if the banking sector was in order. When I was younger, my sister transferred me a sum of money that made the bank freeze my account cos they've never seen such a sum in my account before. My sister had to call them and verify herself before they could unfreeze my account. Police no suppose involve in that matter. Police job na to arrest if bank hands over the evidence to them on a plate.

macjireh:
we are just not ready to move Nigeria forward.... how can Nigerian police be dat rotten...Right now I'm in serious pains for my mom whom lost her phone in May,,unfortunately d boiz dat stole it were able to have access some of her bank transactions and transferred over 300k from her account,, as I speak D's is October and d police have not been able to make good headway to get d criminals... d incident happened in Benin but they were able to trace one of d account holders to Lagos,,OK now for d police to come to Lagos to track down d lead they are demanding 350k to enable dem do their job....chaiii...d tin is just so painful..Y they could not authorize d accounts to d frozen beats my understanding... if God no help person 4naija,,dat person is helpless

N300k is not enough loss for Police to commit man-hours to solve a wire transaction case. Breaking and entering to steal N300k is another matter. In UK, Police will not involve themselves in any electronic fraud less than £10k. They will tell you to contact your bank and let the bank deal with it. Forget the N300K.

One police officer said they pay N200-N250K to be promoted to SARS.

And boys think they will not make their investment back? All they need to do is catch one iamoyindamola to breakeven.

Another Police Officer said they don't have patrol vehicle or fuel. They hire cab for the day's work, and the DPO will tell them first N5k you make, use am settle driver. How will such Police officers not be setting up innocent civilians to make pay.

Almajirihunter:
I think he meant Igbobi

Wetin be igbobi

HewlettPackard:
You have to look at the standpoint of some of these SARS apologist, some are speaking from privilege positions, some have never really experienced the atrocities of the Criminal Unit or live/have lived in an environment that does. Some travel by Air so they don't really get a grasp of what these animals perpetuate on the highway. Some are living outside the country and think they know better on how to deal with animals we encounter on a daily.

Na who wear shoe know where e dey pinch.

odizeey:
Igbobians and igbobites in police polo.

So SARS brutality is now an Igbo thing?

donjazet:
Larride, it's been quite long we heard your political opinions.
What's your take on this whole #endSars debacle?
Some are calling for outright demolition while some are calling for reform, how do you see the whole issue?

You can't end SARS without further corrupting the Police as they will all be reabsorbed into the Police. You can't sack them all either otherwise you will create a new army of armed robbers. You can only repurpose them to a different function (eg redeploy them all as protection officers to the rich which should keep their greed in check since their rich patrons will be dashing them something regularly) or you try to manage them better while keeping SARS as is with severe disciplinary/sackings for their commanders if they cannot bring their boys under control.

hensben:
Oh I see. Thought you’ve retired from playing football

I play every Monday night with guys aged 30-40. In UK, you can play according to your profile. They even have walking football for over 50s where no one is allowed to run.

hensben:
RLC went on loan to Fulham. Where you Dey Ibime.

I was playing football last night, so I missed the transfer deadline palaver.

So RLC joined Fulham?

ennyjay72:
mount, havertz and?

Modified: just seen that RLC went to Fulham.

Even Ziyech can play there.

How many do you want?

I don't know how someone will see this Chelsea team and say we have too many DMs and not enough AMs

Unlimited22:
The closest thing we have to a true DM is currently injured till November.

I'm even giving Kante the DM role. Truth is that position could come back to haunt us this season with any injury to Kante

BlueMann:
Multiple DMFs/CMFs and just two out-and-out AMFs. Guess well be seeing the 4-2-3-1 a lot.

Rudiger go chop bench taya.

We don't have multiple DMs, we only have one certified one. Infact we are short on that position meanwhile we have 3 AMs

olabode89:
Old man Harry Redknapp just made a statement on Skysports... "Is Sancho actually better than Rashford? Will Sancho end up as a better player than Greenwood? I don't think so". We should move away from spending 80, 90, 100 M pounds on players. What is the use of scouts and a recently fortified analytics team if we end up making the lazy acquisitions year after year.

Sancho is 1000% better than both as a winger, but Greenwood can outperform him statswise