Northern Governors declare: We want SARS

Governors from the Northern part of the country have rejected disbandment of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).

According to them, the police unit has been useful in the fight against insecurity in the region.

The Governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong, who is the Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum (NGF) made this known to reporters on Thursday after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja.

The Governor said though the government has approved the scrapping of the unit, States in the North are of the opinion that the baby should not be thrown away with the bath water.

Lalong said he went to see the President to commend him for approving community policing, adding that training had commenced in the various zones of the country.

“When we see issues like this, because most of the complaints vary from one state to the other; in one aspect, some people said they don’t want SARS, some said they want SARS but a reformed SARS.

“So, our opinion and conclusion at that stage was that let us not just say we are throwing away the baby with bath water.

“If there are good ones, you don’t chase them away. So, as SARS is banned, we are now looking forward to…because most of the states in the north said no. They want SARS because SARS helps them.

“Borno said without SARS, he would not have been surviving today. Niger also wants SARS. So, if you are addressing this issue of SARS, you need to know what is wrong in some places. Is it the process of recruitment?

“Is it the character of the people? You can’t say because somebody is wrong, everybody is wrong in the country. These are some of the issues we concluded yesterday.

“And it’s for the chairman to go and meet Mr. President to still look at this issue holistically and critically so that we understand where we are going.”