#EndSARS: ‘Their actions betrayed our trust’ – Reps unveil plans to tackle police brutality

Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila, the Speaker House of Representatives, on Wednesday unveiled some of the plans by the House, aimed at tackling police brutality in the country.

In a statement he personally signed, Gbajabiamila disclosed  that over the next 30 days, the House will work with the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), civil society and with Nigerians of good conscience to draft new legislation that establishes a system of independent accountability from the Force.

The Speaker added that the new legislation will hold erring members of the Police Force to account for their conduct in the performance of their duties and impose civil and criminal liability for violations of the Police Code.

He stressed that it will also compel the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) to take responsibility for the failures of training and discipline that leads to such violations.

It will be recalled that In the past couple of days, there have been uneasy calm and protests, calling for a scrapping of a subunit of the police force, named Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), following series of allegations of harassment by officers.

Initially, the agitation was for the unit to be reformed but a fresh incident on Saturday, brought to the fore, calls for proper handling and even scrapping of the rogue, high-handed police officials.

“Their  actions betray our trust and wreak unquantifiable damage on the already frayed fabric of our society”, Gbajabiamila said.

He also admitted that “at the heart of this fundamental failure lies the unavoidable truth that we do not have an independent framework for ensuring that members of the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) are appropriately held to account when they fail to adhere to the policies and laws that govern their operations.

“We have long expected the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) to police itself”.

He noted that it is now abundantly clear that for the benefit of a functioning system of policing in Nigeria, parliament has to step in to introduce an independent, fair and practical approach to ensure that those to whom we grant the authority to act in the name of the state, are held to the highest standards of professional conduct.