The Beatification of an Area Boy: A FSARS Kaleidoscope By Amuda Mosigbodi-Plato - June 16, 2018

The National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) is an assemblage of those who run the affairs of motor parks in Nigeria. While the name has registered in the hearts of many to describe members of the Union, many, like yours sincerely, have not snapped out of the classification of these individuals as area boys. An area boy is a thug, miscreant and rascal who believes in the power of violence. It is his possession of this power of violence that ensures his rise in the hierarchy of the motor park overlords. These area boys are however packaged in the name of a Union. They are beatified as members of a trade union, but it goes without saying that these characters who have become synonymous with violence, extortion, intimidation and opulence are not trade unionist in any sense.
But the beatification of urchins called area boys does not pertain to the NURTW alone. A similar beatification is seen in the roguish department of the Nigerian Police called the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS). May I quickly acknowledge that the title of this piece was inspired by one of Wole Soyinka’s numerous plays titled ‘The Beatification of an Area Boy: A Lagos Kaleidoscope.’ This title is analogous to the qualification one can give to the activities of this rogue department across the country. Established with the sole aim of combatting armed robbery across the country, the FSARS has metamorphosed into a dreaded and cancerous tumour that threatens the freedom of Nigerians. The Kaleidoscope of the FSARS is what has also necessitated the difference in opinions regarding the need to either bring an end to this unit or reform it.
In spite of the laudable efforts of this unit, it has also carried out its activities in a Gestapo manner, trampling on the rights of others and threatening lives and properties which they were established to protect. From the gangsteric way and manner the unit operates, the high incidence of extra-judicial killings carried out by the unit as reported by Amnesty International Nigeria in 2016, the criminal high-handedness of officers in the unit, framing innocent citizens in a bid to implicate them and get money off them, to how these characters drive like dare-devil armed robbers, flag victims down and even threaten to shoot in most situations, for all intents and purposes,  the FSARS has become a beatified area boys unit.

But where did we get it all wrong? The philosophy behind the founding of the Nigerian Police is in itself faulty. It was set up to protect, not the interest of the state, but the interest of the colonialist, nay the ruling class. At this time as well, members of the Police Force saw themselves as a higher oppressor of the people and not as the defenders of the people. Hence, they, like every other security outfit that came with colonialism, browbeat the citizenry at every opportunity. The citizens become bloody civilian, thereby establishing a we-they dichotomy. Even within the rank and file of the Nigerian Police, the FSARS is regarded as an elite unit as it enjoys much freedom compared to other units or regular police officers.
Many of those drafted into the unit pay their way through and are not deployed on the basis of their competence. For these people, it is all about how much they can milk off the people and this must be achieved either by hook or crook. The unit enjoys so much liberty that its officers hardly account for the bullets in their possessions or even report evidence they gather in the course of investigating a crime. Were they attached to a police station, they would always indent what guns and bullets they collect and must account for how such is used when indenting their report for each day. This explains why these officers can threaten to waste any bullet without proper accountability or even use exhibits got from prior investigations to implicate new catches.
While we cannot shut our eyes to the efforts of the current Inspector General of Police to reform the entire Police Force as a whole and the FSARS unit in particular, one will not also deny that this seems like a little drop in an ocean. It is even worsened by the flagrant disregard for the orders of the IG. For instance, on the heels of the social media drive against SARS, the IG introduced some reforms which included that FSARS officials should put on their vests which has their identification number among other reform measures, these officers have not abided by the order. Rather, they resort to dressings which conceal their identity and even assault anyone that is bold enough to challenge them.
A psychological evaluation of this elite team of police officers will show that beyond the structural reform, there is the place of ego in all that they do. The whole idea of treating FSARS officers as privileged officers must cease.  The different teams in the unit should be made to report to the Area Commander of the jurisdiction they are assigned to. It will also be the duty of the commander to monitor their activities and deal with any form of abuse. The whole idea of having a detached FSARS station needs to be abolished and all FSARS activities to be conducted within the Area Command. The only reason why the men of FSARS are without caution is the distance of the chain of control on them. The IG must realise this and do the needful.