SARS operatives can no longer detain suspects — Lagos CP

The Lagos commissioner of police, Hakeem Odumosu has said operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in the state no longer have the authority to unilaterally detain suspects.

The CP said this during an interview with Channels TV on Tuesday, October 6, 2020.

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Reacting to the recent ban on the security unit by the Inspector General of Police, Odumosu said: “The additional directive I gave on Monday is that they must not even go to investigate any case without booking their arrival at the Area Commander’s office so that the Area Commander will know that they are in that area doing what they ought to do. And once they finish, they must go back and file entry.

Secondly, I gave a directive that they must not detain anybody in their cells any longer. They can only detain at my office or at the Area Commander’s office. And the Area Commander must interview any suspect they want to detain and ascertain that the suspect had done what warranted being detained.

All these are additional measures put in place to make sure that the supervision is effective. So, there is more supervision now and it going to be more effective now.”