The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu has barred the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS) and other police special teams including the Special Tactical Squad (STS), Intelligence Response Team (IRT), and Anti-Cultism Squad from routine patrols as well as other low-risk duties. The IGP also warned against going on operations while wearing mufti, ordering all police officers including FSARS to wear their uniforms. In a statement by Frank Mba, the Force, Public Relations Officer said the IGP "banned the personnel of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS) and other Tactical Squads of the Force including the Special Tactical Squad (STS),
Intelligence Response Team (IRT), Anti-Cultism Squad, and other Tactical Squads operating at the Federal, Zonal, and Command levels, from carrying out routine patrols and other conventional low-risk duties – stop and search duties, checkpoints, mounting of roadblocks, traffic checks, etc – with immediate effect."
The spokesman also said the IGP has warned tactical squads from invading the privacies of individuals including searching laptops, mobile phones, and cars, among others.
He added that "directives come against the backdrop of findings by the leadership of the Force that a few personnel of the Tactical Squads hide under these guises to perpetrate all forms of illegality, contrary to the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), Code of Conduct and Rules of Engagement establishing the squads."
Vigil360 recalls that members of the public including Governor Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State have expressed dismay over the incessant harassment and indiscriminate checks on citizens by FSARS.