The man who set up the hated Nigerian police unit, Sars, accused of human rights abuses, has revealed that he feels “sad” and “guilty” about what the agency has become.
Fulani Kwajafa said.
“Sars of today is not the same Sars I established in 1984,” the unit had been “turned into banditry”.
Officers from the Special Anti Robbery Squad have been accused of committing extrajudicial killings and torture.
President Muhammadu Buhari announced the disbandment of the agency this week after thousands of Nigerians took to the streets to protest against police brutality.
A new agency called Swat has been formed to take over duties performed by Sars but this has also been rejected by the protesters.
The demonstrators have been using the hashtag #EndSars to push for their cause, which has since been endorsed by global celebrities such as Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, US rapper Kanye West, gospel singer Kirk Franklin, footballers Mesut Ozil and Marcus Rashford and Nigerian celebrities – Uti nwachukwu, Peter okoye, wizkid, Runtown, Falz etc
On Friday, Twitter launched a clenched fist emoji in a show of support for the protests.
Mr Kwajafa said that the changes might be undermined if there’s no “change in mentality”.
He added that the code of conduct that he set up when creating Sars had ensured that there was “no incident with members of the public” when he was in charge.
The former police boss accused the agency of “brutality” saying that the officer’s acts could have been driven by “greed.”
“I always tell my wife that I was sad [that] what I created with good purpose and direction has been turned into banditry,” Mr Kwajafa said, adding that he supported the disbandment of the unit “100%”.