Lagos CP: SARS operatives stripped of power to detain suspects

The Lagos State Police Commissioner, Hakeem Odumosu, has said operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad in the state no longer have the authority to detain suspects.

Odumosu made this disclosure while speaking on Channels Television‘s programme, Sunrise Daily, on Tuesday.

According to the Commissioner, operatives attached to the tactical squads of the Command can only move out on information and notify the Area Commander before carrying out their operations.

He said: “It is going to be different because there will be more monitoring and more supervision.”

“The additional directive I gave yesterday (Monday) is that they must not even go to investigate any case without booking their arrival at the Area Commander’s office so that the Area Commander will know that they are in that area doing what they ought to do. And once they finish, they must go back and file entry.”

“Secondly, I gave a directive that they must not detain anybody in their cells any longer. They can only detain at my office or at the Area Commander’s office. And the Area Commander must interview any suspect they want to detain and ascertain that the suspect had done what warranted being detained.”

“All these are additional measures put in place to make sure that the supervision is effective. So, there is more supervision now and it going to be more effective now.”