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The Creative Industry Group (CIG) on Thursday appealed to relevant authorities to respond to Nigerians clamouring for an end to the excesses in some of the activities of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).
Mr Felix Duke, the President of CIG, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos said that such response would go a long way to calm the ongoing protests in the country.
NAN reports that SARS was a unit of the Nigeria Police Force under the Force Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (FCID) that handled crimes associated with armed robbery, car snatching and kidnapping.
The squad had been accused of unlawful arrests, torture, theft, unlawful detention, extortion and extrajudicial killings which sparked up the ongoing mass protests across the country.
Duke, however, declared that he was in full support of the ongoing nationwide protest by youths as the reasons behind the protest were in order and for the interest of all.
“People can no longer condone the excesses of SARS, youths are angry and this is the brain behind the ongoing peaceful protest. However, something urgent needs to be done to avert escalation.
“Personally, I am supporting the protest and subscribing to the EndSars campaign so that we can have a sigh of relief in the country because we can’t continue to be suffering in silence,’’ he said.
According to Duke, the oppression and brutality by SARS is becoming unbearable and so the ongoing protest is a welcome development in the right direction and should be seen as such.
“My son fell victim to this heartless group called SARS on his way to an errand I sent him with my Jeep, he was arrested, his phone seized, switched off and detained for hours.
“This was in spite of identifying himself and explaining to them that the Jeep was his father’s and that he was on errand; their excesses are improper, unacceptable and must be eradicated.’’ he said.
The CIG President added that an arm of its body was into creativity and sometimes wear their handwork on their look by way of dressing, as a way of exhibition to promote their profession.
The CIG leader said that the ‘EndSARS’ campaign became necessary as the youths were no longer enjoying freedom of movement as contained in the Nigeria Constitution under the human rights freedom.
NAN also reports that Mohammed Adamu, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), had on Oct. 11, 2020, announced that a new setup known as Special Weapon and Tactics Team (SWAT) had been set up to take over from the disbanded SARS.
Meanwhile, Femi Adesina, Presidential Spokesman, had said in a statement that the Presidential Panel on the reform of SARS had accepted the five-point demand of the ‘EndSARS’ protesters. (NAN)
Oct 15 2020 @ 18:58 GMT
Tags: #EndSARS Protest: Creative Group urges prompt response to protests
