Seriki Adinoyi in Jos
Traffic flow and commercial activities were disrupted in Jos, the capital of Plateau State yesterday as youths in their number stormed the city centre demanding the disbandment of the newly created Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) by the Inspector General of Police (IG), Mohammed Adamu.
This is even as the protesters called on President Muhammadu Buhari and the Police Service Commission (PSC) to overhaul the entire Nigerian Police Force.
Displaying placards with various inscriptions such as #EndSARS; #EndSWAT; ‘We don’t want SWAT’; ‘There’s no difference between SWAT and SARS’; ‘We want complete and total overhaul of all security apparatus in the country’, the youths stormed the major streets in the city, denouncing the federal government and the Nigerian Police Force over the spate of extra-judicial killings by the operatives of the Nigerian Police.
Other placards read: ‘President Buhari, sack Service Chiefs now’.
Though peaceful, the procession caused heavy traffic jam, especially on the Secretariat Junction flyover, while the major highway linking the state with neighbouring states of Bauchi, Gombe and Abuja was totally blocked.
Leaders of the protesters, Timothy Gyang, said they were surprised that youths came out in large numbers to support the protest, adding that the establishment of SWAT by the IG was a deliberate poly to whittle down the reverberating protest across the country.
He said: “I can tell you that there’s no difference between SARS and SWAT; it is all a gimmick. What Nigerians want is a total overhaul of the police force and other security agencies. The Service Chiefs too must be retired in line with popular demand from Nigerians.”
Kabiru Yunusa also added that the disbandment of SARS was not enough, and called on the IG to prosecute the head of SARS and others that used the unit to torment innocent Nigerians.
