The Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone 2, Olohundare Jimoh, has reiterated that the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad no longer exists in any form within the police structure, dismissing claims that former SARS operatives were regrouped into new tactical units.
Jimoh said this during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Friday, stating that everything learned from the #EndSARS protests is being followed.
“The SARS has been disbanded, and there is no area where the old SARS were migrated into another squad or formation for them to do anything,” he said.
According to him, former SARS officers were not dismissed from the police because they were conventional police officers and general duty officers, but were instead redeployed to different units within the force.
He also explained that extensive reforms and retraining programmes had been carried out following the disbandment of the controversial unit, with the involvement of international human rights organisations, including the Red Cross.
Addressing videos circulating online of police officers mistreating people, Jimoh said, “Eventually, all the videos that you are seeing online, outside the incident that happened in Delta, are extremely old videos, some of them dated to about 5 to 6 years ago, that people are now tagging as something that just happened.”
Despite this, he disclosed that the Inspector-General of Police had established a high-level committee to investigate all the viral videos and determine whether any recent abuses were involved. If there is any recent case, those responsible will be identified and dealt with appropriately.
Jimoh urged Nigerians to avoid spreading unverified information online, stressing that misinformation could undermine public trust and national security. He appealed to citizens to verify videos and reports before sharing them, insisting that the police were not attempting to cover up genuine cases of misconduct.
