As part of efforts towards dealing with the social menace of armed robberies in the country, the Nigeria Police authorities appropriately created the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) some two odd decades ago.

Charged with the singular responsibility of tackling vicious armed robbers and fully equipped for such activity, SARS became the dread of armed robbers.

Sadly, the same SARS has become a nightmare to some Nigerians who have had encounter with the group. Currently there is an outcry against its unconstitutional methods in terrorising the citizenry, often over non-robbery related incidents.

Nations across the world often create special units to tackle security issues. The men and women of the unit are specially trained, equipped and motivated to risk their lives for the sake of collective survival.

While some of such teams become permanent, others fizzle out when the security challenge is ultimately contained. SARS therefore is not strange as a formal response to a special security challenge. What has generated intense concern and worry is its extremely brutal and illegal ways of conducting operations.

People are shocked when they run into some arms-bearing young men along the road, dressed casually, looking very menacing. Sometimes they wear black Tee-shirts with SARS emblazoned on them. This is the very first confusion that commuters face.

In Lagos some policemen have been reported to have actually escorted their victims to banks to pull out bribe money. How degenerated has the Nigeria Police become!

Another inhuman and criminal practice associated with the men of SARS is arresting innocent people and branding them armed robbers. There have been cases of innocent citizens who challenged the SARS men for unethical behaviour and ended up being accused of robbery.

In sum, the men of SARS have thoroughly abused both their ascribed and invested power and authority. In an apparent response to a public outcry, the Inspector General of Police has called for a reorganisation of the unit. This, once again, is welcome. In a democracy, highly placed officials should always listen to the genuine cries of the people.

But the real point is that if Nigeria had put its house in order with regards to the police, the situation would not have degenerated into its current chaotic and disgraceful state.

The average policeman is not well treated by the establishment. Society has no respect or regard for the men. They are poorly paid and badly equipped. There are only about three hundred thousand (300,000) policemen in the system to police one hundred and eighty million citizens.

Of this figure, a high percentage is assigned guard duties to the men and women who occupy the seat of power across the country. The men of the Nigeria Police, particularly the junior officers, lack self-esteem. They are derided because they are willfully so or have been compelled to be corrupt and inefficient.

The Nigeria Police therefore needs a thorough reform. The first point to be made is that the current unitary command and control structure cannot guarantee effective policing. The constituent parts of the Federation should be allowed to have a say over and control the police in their locality.

It also needs to be said that the men need training and re-training. Their training programmes should be routine and modern. Modern policing is highly sophisticated because criminals have started adopting ‘smart’ methods of carrying out their activities.

The barracks where policemen are accommodated across the country are in a great state of disrepair. They look like dumps meant for the rejects of society. Often the men accuse their officers of pocketing monies meant for their development.

The Police High Command should never ask police officers to pay for their uniforms. This is the height of corruption and inefficiency. It destroys the very basis of commitment to safety. Government should be able to provide uniforms for all policemen.

Also, the officers should be fully equipped with modern gadgets. The ones who are sent out to combat armed robbers should be properly and adequately equipped. Armed robbers often have access to sophisticated weapons. As a result they out-gun the Police.