Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, has ordered the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris, to "overhaul the management and activities" of notorious Police unit, the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).


Over the past nine months, numerous Nigerians have taken to social media to accuse officers of the unit of several misconducts ranging from harassment, extortion, assault to extra-judicial killings.

In a statement issued by Osinbajo's spokesperson, Laolu Akande, the Acting President ordered the IGP to shut down the unit "with immediate effect".

The statement read, "Following persistent complaints and reports on the activities of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) that border on allegations of human rights violations, His Excellency, Professor Yemi Osinbajo SAN, Acting-President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, has directed the Inspector General of Police to, with immediate effect, overhaul the management and activities of SARS and ensure that any unit that will emerge from the process, will be intelligence-driven and restricted to the prevention and detection of armed robbery and kidnapping, and apprehension of offenders linked to the stated offences, and nothing more."

While speaking at a town hall meeting at the launch of National Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, MSMEs, Clinics in Ibadan, Oyo State on June 26, 2018, Osinbajo had disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari was concerned with the operations of SARS and had already ordered a review of the unit.


The vice president further said the unit cannot be scrapped but be rehabilitated to curb the atrocities of the bad eggs.