The outrage over the discovery of a uniformed officer holding an assault rifle while standing on the road has been addressed by the Lagos State Police Command.
A picture of the operative holding an assault rifle became popular on social media, prompting Twitter users to wonder whether the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, or SARS, which had been disbanded, had been reactivated.
Recall that following the nationwide End SARS protests that shook Nigeria in October 2020, the federal government yielded to public pressure and disbanded the notorious police unit.
However, @AyoBankole, a Twitter user who saw the police officer and tweeted about it, enquired as to whether the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) was back in action.
“Is SARS back on Lagos roads? Or why are skinny jeans, armed robber looking, gun blazing unmarked men standing on the highway along Lekki-Epe express?†he asked.
2.4 million people saw the tweet, it received over 4,000 retweets, and hundreds of angry comments; some people also shared similar images and videos of assaults that had occurred in other states.
Police Public Relations Officer SP Benjamin Hundeyin responded by stating that the officer is a part of the tactical units that CP Idowu Owohunwa reorganized to combat cultism.
The spokesperson said that he and other people were responsible for the recent arrest of 42 suspected cultists in different areas of Lagos over the course of two weeks.
“On this day, they were going for an assignment and ran into a heavy gridlock. Due to how time-sensitive the assignment was, they disembarked to clear the traffic.
“While a few of them were directing cars to ease the gridlock, others like the one pictured were ‘on guard…They all had police identity on them.â€
Hundeyin noted that some of them had POLICE boldly written on their helmets, while others had POLICE boldly written on their jackets.
The PRO claimed that motorists applauded the officers because they never conducted a stop-and-search and weren't performing a routine township patrol.
However, he praised the citizen for "seeing something and saying something" and urged locals and guests to report any improper behavior by the police.