Amnesty International said it had investigated facilities
run by the Nigerian police Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), and found
multiple cases where “confessions” were allegedly obtained through torture,
where people who had not been charged with any crime were claimed to be beaten
and starved, and where suspects were detained for months longer than the
maximum 48 hours defined in Nigeria’s constitution.
A specialist police unit that was set up to tackle Nigeria’s
alarming rise in violent crime has instead become a hotbed for alleged
corruption, where suspects are claimed to be detained in horrific conditions
and tortured until they or their relatives can pay for their freedom, according
to their report.
The unit has become seen as a comfortable posting in the
police force where officers allegedly know they can “earn a substantial amount
of money in a short time”, in part through extortion and in part through the
theft of valuables from suspects.
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