Due to the increased rate of police brutality cases in the country in the past few days, millions of Nigerians have taken to social media to call for the disbarment of the dreaded unit. Nigerian youths trended different hashtags #WarOnSARS and #EndSARSnow to call for the removal of the unit.
Nigerian artistes like Wizkid, Davido, Ruggedman, Don Jazzy, Falz and others took to their respective social media pages to protest against the harassment, extortion, and forceful detention of youths by police personnel and sensational singer, Naira Marley, the leader of the Marlians vowed to protest.
Shortly after Naira Marley announced that a peaceful protest would be held for the voices of Nigerians to be heard concerning the police brutality, the Nigerian police force reached out to him to stop the protest. They wrote via their Twitter page that the issue is currently being addressed by the higherups. They also proposed an Instagram live session with the singer to answer questions and discuss the concerns of young Nigerians on the issues of SARS operations and other issues.
Today, Tuesday 6th October, 2020, by 11am, the Force PRO- DCP Frank Mba will be having a live instagram chat with Naira Marley to answer questions and discuss the concerns of young Nigerians on the issues of SARS operations and other burning issues. Please stay tuned.
”” Nigeria Police Force (@PoliceNG) October 6, 2020
Naira Marley responded by calling off the protest after seeing that a lot of changes have been made. However, Naira did this on the condition that things must be resolved in one week or else, there would be another mass protest. We won`t be protesting anymore because there`s a lot of changes being made right now. As a Marlian we will give them a week to see the changes and if there`s no changes we will start a mass protest.
We won`t be protesting anymore because there`s a lot of changes being made right now. As a Marlian we will give them a week to see the changes and if there`s no changes we will start a mass protest. #togetherwecan https://t.co/RNBXZ0IOfw
”” nairamarley (@officialnairam1) October 6, 2020
In the Instagram live session which later kicked off at exactly 11, Naira Marley had a lengthy conversation with Frank Mba, the PRO of the police force on the SARS reform. they addressed several steps that would be taken to curb the menace.
- The police force would enforce the removal of the unit from patrolling on the roads.
- All police officers henceforth must wear police uniforms for proper identification.
- The police force said they are open to partnerships with youths to ensure effective policing and also revealed that they are ready to recruit 10,000 youths.
- The police officers henceforth would only move in licensed vehicles provided by the police and not vehicles used for public transportation like Danfo and Keke Maruwa.
- The police can be recorded, however, not in security-conscious zones
- The social media accounts of the police force are open to DMs and if there is any case of brutality or violence, they can be easily reached.
