Nigeria, Umpteenth Statement on Dissolving Anti-Robbery Squad

Every year, the Nigeria’s chief of police announces he will dissolve the Special Anti-Robbery Squad. And every year, this announcement proves to be unfounded. Or partial.

This also seems to be true of the statement released on 12 October which does not speak of accountability for  past human rights violations by the notorious special unit.

The squad has been responsible for the sketchy killings of people who were suspect only because of the way they looked, where they were from or the communities they frequented. They have also been accused of abuse and torture on those arrested and sent to detention centres managed directly by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad without the least bit of supervision by the judiciary and independent monitoring agencies.

By not taking legal action against those responsible for these human rights violations, this umpteenth statement will prove to be unproductive.