Human Rights activism group, Amnesty International (AI) has blamed the police force for not prosecuting members of its sub-unit, Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a unit it said is notorious for extreme torture of suspects.
The group said the squad constantly uses torture and life-threatening treatment to extract information from suspects.
According to the group, it has at least 82 cases of torture and extra-judicial executions perpetrated by SARS in the space of three years (January 2017 and May 2020).
This was contained in a report titled, ‘Time to End Impunity’, released on Thursday by the group.
The Director of Amnesty International Nigeria, Osai Ojigho, said in the statement, “The complete failure of Nigerian authorities to bring an end to the gross human rights violations perpetrated by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad or to bring any SARS officer to justice is shocking and unacceptable.”
She added, “Nigerians are outraged by the systemic human rights violations perpetrated by the SARS with impunity. The systemic use of torture and other ill-treatment by SARS officers for police investigations and the continued existence of torture chambers within the Nigerian Police Force points to an absolute disregard for international human rights laws and standards.”
