IG of Police warns SARS against detaining suspects beyond 48hours

The Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, has told the Federal Special Anti Robbery Square (FSARS) across the country, to respect people’s rights or risk being sanctioned.

Idris, who reiterated that membership of FSARS was voluntary, asked those who felt they could not cope with the reforms in the unit to opt out.

He stated that from henceforth, any FSARS officer who detained any suspect beyond 48 hours without recourse to the court, risked dismissal.

The IGP read the riot act at the Anambra State Police Command Headquarters, Amawbia during a lecture to officers of FSARS.

Represented by the National Coordinator X-Squad, Amaechi Elumelu, a Deputy Commissioner of Police, the IGP said the FSARS was created to handle armed robbery and kidnapping cases alone.

“You are created and authorised to handle only armed robbery and kidnapping cases.

“Operatives of FSARS are to be trained and retrained regularly to equip them with modern working knowledge and skills to perform optimally in line with international best practices.

“You’re barred from searching handsets and laptops of innocent citizens, unless the search is directly linked to a case or directed by IGP or any person or persons he so delegated.

“You’re prohibited from detaining any suspect beyond what the law says without recourse to the court,” he said.