By Vincent Ujumadu

AWKA—HUNDREDS of youths in Anambra State, yesterday staged a peaceful protest against the call by some groups to scrap the Special Anti Robbery Squad, SARS, in the country.

The youths, under the aegis of Concerned Anambra Citizens and Non-indigenes, drawn from various local government areas in the state, converged at the gate of the SARS office, in Awkuzu in Oyi local government area of the state displaying placards.

Their placards had various inscriptions like “Removal of SARS, an invitation to kidnapping, robbery;” “We want crime-free Christmas and new year;” and “Let SARS be;” among others.

The convener, Mr. Emeka Okafor, who is also the Special Assistant to Governor Willie Obiano on political matters, said their protest was to drive home the likely consequences of scrapping the unit.

He attributed the relative peace existing in the state to the active and aggressive operations of that arm of the police force, insisting that any attempt to scrap the unit would amount to return of all forms of crimes and criminality in the state.

The governor’s aide who later handed over the letter addressed to the Inspector General of Police by the group to the state Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mr. Chris Owolabi, who represented the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Garba Umar, pleaded with the IG to use his good offices to ensure that SARS remained in the state.

He said refusal to heed to their call might compel the group to carry the protest to the police headquarters in Abuja.

Also speaking, the chairman of Police Community Relations Committee in the state, Chief Francis Ezenwankwo, said those calling for the scraping of SARS had selfish and ulterior motives and called on them to have a rethink.

Though he acknowledged that some officials of the unit might have their shortcomings, Ezenwankwo argued that rather than scrap SARS as a body, the unit should be reformed and repositioned for better service delivery.

He said: “We have a system where erring officers are disciplined, including redeployment, training and retraining to bring out the best from them.”.

Responding, the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Chris Owolabi commended the group for peaceful conduct, promising that the message would be delivered appropriately.