. Parliamentarian expresses shock, demands explanation
United Kingdom government funded and trained the operatives of the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad for four years, a top government official in Britain has disclosed.
In a letter dated October 29, 2020, UK Minister for Africa, James Duddridge, said the former operatives of SARS participated in a training “designed to improve human rights.”
The UK minister addressed the letter to a member of the UK parliament, Kate Osamor, who shared a copy via her Twitter handle.
Osamor tweeted, “On 19 October, the Minister for Africa @JamesDuddridge assured me that the UK Government had provided no funding to SARS units.
“That wasn’t true. The Minister has now confirmed that the Government has trained and supplied equipment to SARS units from 2016 to 2020. #EndSARS pic.twitter.com/uDACZ1OHXL”
— Kate Osamor| Labour – Co-operative MP| Edmonton || (@KateOsamor) October 29, 2020
Osamor had written the minister to confirm reported links the UK government had with SARS following a nationwide protest against the police unit over alleged abuse of human rights.
The protests were the peak of years-long agitation against the anti-robbery squad accused of excessive use of force, arbitrary arrests and, in some cases, extra-judicial killings.
In the letter, Duddridge said the training programme ended in March 2020, adding that the UK remains committed to the respect for human rights in Nigeria.
The letter read, “Through our CSSF-funded Nigeria Policing Programme, which ended in March 2020, FSARS officers participated in training on amended Nigerian police guidance designed to improve human rights, training on public finance and community policing workshops.
“This was in support of our wider objectives to strengthen the capacity, accountability and responsiveness of the Nigerian Police Force.
“The Nigeria Policing Programme was part of our Society and Justice Reform Programme, which is working to help deliver a criminal justice system that better protects the human rights of all Nigerians.”
The UK minister cited the community-policing framework and improved relations with communities as some of the positive outcomes of the programme.
But Osamor described the revelation by the minister as shocking and sought further clarification.
“Either the Government deliberately funded SARS units when they were known to have committed extra-judicial killings or it had no idea where that funding was going,” she wrote via her Twitter handle.
Either the Government deliberately funded SARS units when they were known to have committed extra-judicial killings or it had no idea where that funding was going.
Either outcome is shocking and needs to be explained. #EndSARShttps://t.co/elx0yy1QvJ
— Kate Osamor| Labour – Co-operative MP| Edmonton || (@KateOsamor) October 29, 2020
During the #EndSARS protests, British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing, had called for accountability over alleged human rights violations reported against the anti-robbery squad.