For Nigeria to achieve a meaningful policing, the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) must be reformed and all related archaic laws and practices must also be abolished.

The country’s criminal justice administration and its management, including the Nigeria Police SARS, must also be overhauled.

This position was canvassed by International Society for Civil Liberties & Rule of Law (Intersociety) in a statement issued on Thursday and signed by Emeka Umeagbalasi, Board Chair; Barr Chinwe Umeche, Head of Democracy & Good Governance; Barr Obianuju Igboeli, Head of Civil Liberties & Rule of Law; and Barr Amaka Damaris Onuoha, Head of Campaign & Publicity.

It noted that it is an act of impossibility to successfully carry out Police SARS reforms without frontally tackling the endemic corruption in the Nigeria Police Force and ousting archaic and crude policing or policing and its investigations that are outside the confines of ‘man-mental-machine setting’.

The group said in the statement: "Having deeply and critically looked at the sorry state of policing and soldiering in Nigeria, we have boldly concluded that the decadence and crudity ravaging policing and soldiering in the country, including the Police SARS operations or activities, are deeply rooted and beyond media promises by the Inspector General of Police (IGP) or the Federal Government.

"It is also an act of impossibility to successfully carry out Police SARS reforms without ‘mentalizing’ and digitalizing criminal intelligence, investigation and prosecution including revitalization of the NPF’s dead Forensic Department as well as its out-of-date Central Crime Database, Laboratories and Libraries."

Intersociety noted that no meaningful and effective Police reforms, including its SARS reforms, must take place without revitalization and digitalization of the NPF dead Forensic Department, adding that resuscitating it under recommendation will be incomplete unless it includes "criminalistics, pathology, toxicology, physical anthropology, odontology, psychiatry, questioned documents, ballistics, tool work comparison and serology, etc." It explained that Criminalistics as an important and integral part of Forensic Science in modern policing including intelligence and investigation is the "recognition, identification, individualization and evaluation of physical evidence by application of the natural sciences to law-science matters. "Criminalistics evidence includes finger prints, blood and blood stains, semen stains, sand, saliva, drugs and alcohol, hairs and fibers; firearms and tool marks, etc.

"It is therefore totally correct to say that the ‘genociding’ and torture culture deeply rooted in the NPF including its SARS criminal investigation is as a result of absence of the ICT powered tools above highlighted and mental know-how by its felonious criminal investigation handlers.

"This is in addition to the fact that till date, 90 percent of NPF SARS personnel and their commanders are serial torturers and stark computer illiterates. NPF also lacks electronic policing including electronic intelligence and investigation.

"Nowhere is also found in the NPF archives, ICT compliant guidelines for processing or handling of suspects arrested and investigated by Police SARS operatives."

The group also recommended that endemic corruption in the NPF must be tackled, noting that several research studies have clearly shown that reforms in the Nigeria Police must concretely start with headlong tackling of endemic graft in the Force.

"For instance, in a 2010 study carried out by US based Human Rights Watch, which Intersociety was part of, it was found that ‘corruption was deeply responsible for spate of extrajudicial killings and torture in the Nigeria Police Force. In other words, a major reason responsible for high rate of extrajudicial killings and torture in the Police SARS is corruption.

"Corruption in the Nigeria Police SARS hindering its reforms includes commercialization of criminal investigation (i.e. custodial bail fees and funding by complainants, of criminal investigation including arrests and prosecutions), beat patrol and roadblock extortion and daily criminal returns made to senior police officers (i.e. from SARS/MOPOL commanders/DPOs-Area Commanders-CPs-AIGs-DIGs-IGP) and privatization of policing formations and officers’ promotions and postings.

"Police SARS corruption also involves dabbling into and criminalization of civil matters, confiscation and forceful possession of monetary cash sums and properties belonging to suspects or 'proceeds of crimes' and ritualism.

It also lamented that Police SARS personnel have earned secret administrative power to ‘kill and bury” or “I can kill you and nothing will happen.”

It alleged that the police kill citizens at will including during their routine operational patrols and those held in their detention facilities.

"Torture is also their common salutation as well as raping of young married and unmarried women particularly the wives and other female relatives of their captives. It has also been found that many, if not most of the dead and tortured victims of Police SARS are criminally labeled or framed up with trumped accusations.

"Therefore, for meaningful Police SARS reforms to be carried out, all related archaic laws and practices must be abolished."

The group also called for the specialization of trial courts, stressing that there must be carried out urgently and legislatively or administratively in Nigeria the carving out of ‘Criminal High Courts’ and ‘Civil High Courts’.

This, it said, is for purpose of ensuring speedy and ICT accelerated trial or fair justice dispensation. Additionally, there must end to discriminatory, sectional, hate and racial policing in the country. Racial profiling must give way for plural or balanced, secular and meritorious policing.

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