By Olawale Abdul-Fatah
After examining the involvement of Special Anti-Robbery Squads (SARS) officers in the circumstances that led to death of Remo Stars Football Club player, Tiamiyu Kazeem, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Abubakar Adamu, has ordered that all SARS satellite offices should be shut down immediately.
The directives came barely 24 hours after residents of Ogun State protested over Tiamiyu’s death and SARS extrajudicial killings which later turned bloody with one dead and scores of youths injured during the face-off that lasted for several minutes.
Adamu disclosed this when he accompanied the State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, to pay a condolence visit to home of the deceased Vice-Captain of Remo Stars in Shagamu on Tuesday.
The IGP, who was represented by Deputy Inspector General of Police, in-charge of Research and Planning, Peter Ogunyanwo, added that all activities at the satellite offices should be handed over to Commissioners of Police in the state.
While commiserating with family of the late footballer who was popularly called Kaka, he assured that everyone responsible for his death would be prosecuted accordingly.
Also, Abiodun, who led the IGP to visit Akarigbo of Remoland, Oba Babatunde Ajayi, alleged that the SARS officers, whose action led to Tiamiyu’s death, were on an illegal duty.
“Today, I was on a condolence visit to the residence of Tiamiyu Kazeem’s parents. Tiamiyu, who was until his death, a vice captain of the Remo Stars Football Club died in an unfortunate encounter with some men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) who were on an illegal mission.
“Kaka’s death is irreversibly regrettable because Ogun State has lost a man of unexplored talents. But this long-awaited, significant reform within the structures of the Nigerian Police assures us of an end to such anomalies”, the governor added.
