Earlier today, the Inspector General of Police announced the disbandment of SARS, which Nigerians all over the world have been protesting for all week. While this should ordinarily be good news, the Nigerian government has made the same promise every year since 2017, yet no real change has been effected and we are still here, protesting the heinous acts of the Special Anti Robbery Squad.

#IGPDissolvesSARS pic.twitter.com/A1TvvefbOu

— Nigeria Police Force (@PoliceNG) October 11, 2020

Stated above are the terms of this new development, which claim that all officers and men serving in the SARS unit will be redeployed to other Police commands, formations and units. Young Nigerians have expressed their weariness of this solution on social media, stating that it seems vague and there are no exact steps being taken to ensure that we are all safe from the threat the Nigerian Police Force as a whole pose to our communities.

In addition, there is no concrete timeline as to when any changes will be implemented, which leaves a lot of room for confusion and the possibility for us to end up in the same position we have been for years, leaving young Nigerians to be vulnerable to the harassment, extortion and much more from SARS.

While the disbandment of the unit is a good first step, young Nigerians are calling for more accountability from the government and demanding for specific steps to be taken in order to ensure our safety. You can find below a list of the exact demands of the Nigerian youth from the government as they resolve to actually #EndSars once and for all:

• Direct address from the President, confirming exact steps being taken
• Timeline stating the prioritisation of all the different protest demands
• Release of all protestors who are being held in custody
• A top-down structural reform of the entire Nigerian Police Form
• Plans to and an exact timeline for punishing and holding ex-SARS officials who have committed crimes accountable
• Breakdown and plan for ex-SARS officers (psychological evaluation & disciplinary action for offending officers)
• SARS operatives to hand over their Identification Cards, state-given ammunition with proof
• Resignation/Sack of IGP based on their inability to prevent violence against civilians by the Police during peaceful #ENDSARS protests
• Deweaponisation of the Nigerian Police Force
• Justice for the families of SARS victims

While we’ve gained the attention of the whole world and seemingly, our government’s, it is important for us to make direct demands of them to ensure that the people who’s duty it is to serve us actually do exactly that. Well done to every young Nigerian lending their voice, time and resources to this worthy cause. We can’t and shouldn’t let up in our demand for the Nigeria we and the future generations deserve!

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Featured Image Credits: NATIVE 

Please share any useful information on the SARS Protests with us @nativemag

ICYMI: The nation is united in our fight to #EndSARs