Office of the Attorney General of the Federation has said there is no sufficient evidence to prosecute operatives of the recently-disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) indicted in the report of a Presidential Investigative Panel in 2019.
It would be recalled that a Presidential Panel led by Tony Ojukwu, Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) probed 2018 and 2019 complaints of police brutality by SARS operatives
Following the probe, a report submitted to President Buhari indicted 35 police operatives in 12 states and the Federal Capital Territory for various rights violation including;
Extrajudicial killing, death in police custody, unlawful arrest, biased investigation, unlawful intimidation, harassment, criminal assault, torture, cruelty, inhuman and degrading treatment, threat to life, extortion and confiscation of property.
The report recommended the prosecution of 33 operatives of the now-disbanded unit and that 57 victims be paid about N249m as compensation. The police was also directed to issue an apology to 35 people.
Following the nationwide #EndSARS protests, the 2019 report and its recommendations were reviewed.
However, a committee set up by the AGF, Mr Abubakar Malami (SAN) to review the cases of the 35 SARS operatives recommended for prosecution, has said the 2019 report “does not meet prosecutorial needs” as it lacks vital exhibits such as “medical evidence and statements of the suspects”.
According to Punch, the AGF’s committee in a report stated;
The report of the (presidential) panel does not meet prosecutorial needs. No proper investigation was concluded in all the cases. Admissible evidence such as exhibits, medical evidence, statements of the suspects and witnesses that can be used in court have not been obtained or recorded in the appropriate sheet from the suspects and witnesses by the appropriate investigation team.
The committee also maintained that officers indicted in the panel’s report “are still in the service and ought to go through the internal police disciplinary measures to avoid prosecuting officers in uniform”.
It further stated that three actions “must be taken in earnest” for the AGF’s office “to be able to successfully implement the panel’s recommendations”.
The recommended actions are;
The indicted officers should be made to undergo disciplinary actions immediately and dismissed where appropriate.
That the IGP who is well aware of the sensitivity of the matter should be advised to set up a special investigation team to conduct a thorough investigation into the individual cases.
That after thorough investigation, the cases that are federal offences or fall within the FCT will be prosecuted by the office of the HAGF while those that are state offences will be transferred to the respective states for prosecution.
