The issue of police brutality that started trending after a young man was allegedly shot by men of Special Anti-Robbery Sqaud (SARS) in Ugheli, Delta State, on Saturday has been drawing reactions from all angles of the country.

Media executive, Somtoo Okoye, believes that the rise in police brutality is not unconnected with frustration and underpayment of police officers working in the Nigerian Police.

He wrote:

My friend Otunba Akin Alabi I always admire you but when I saw your bill to endSARS at the National Assembly I was disappointed.
If you end SARS, are SARS operatives not still going to be policemen? Will you sack all of them? Will erasing SARS from their uniform stop the bad eggs from misconduct? Are there no Mopol and regular policemen that involve in police brutality?
I have not seen your bill to ban policemen (especially Mopol)
from following politicians like housemaid in the name of escort which is one of the most needed reforms that is needed in police right now.
Let us not play ourselves. Many crooks are in SARS but if you want to end SARS and do just that, you're not only worsening the problem because these bad eggs will still carry out their bad deeds under the huge umbrella of "policemen", making it hard to find them. You are also creating a huge vacuum in the security system that will leave our society porous to violent attacks by dreaded gunmen.
For me, SARS is the only arm of police (alongside) few other special units, that can wage war against hardened criminals.
Reform SARS, reform the police. Setup active complaint unit. Pay policemen well (especially special units) and ban them from following politicians like housemaids.

No matter how you jump up shouting EndSARS, the beast called police brutality will always rear its ugly head if you don’t fund and restrategize the police.
1. However you put it, paying a man 48k (police Corporal) as salary and sending him to stand under the hot sun from Monday to Sunday, facing all sorts of threats and risk will always negatively affect his mental condition, pushing him to frustration.
2. Arming him with a war rifle AK47 and paying him such abysmal salary will eventually lead him to even more temptation. These are family breadwinners who pay school fees & rent. Don’t forget they have needs too. Anybody that comes his way could become the next victim.
3. The work of special units (SARS, anti-kidnapping, IRT etc) in police cannot be overemphasized. These are the people that actually face criminals in heavy shootout. For being the backbone of security, none of them should receive less than 200k if Senators and Reps get 13.5m and 9.5m salary respectively for sitting barely 10 times a month. Special forces officers are not plenty in number. Enable a complaint unit that sacks and prosecutes any erring officer.
4. Fund the police. You can’t give Police Force with 300k staff just 25bn yet give National Assembly with 469 lawmakers 125bn inside the same 2019 budget. Where will police get money for equipment and essentials after salary consumes the whole 25bn?
5. Withdraw policemen from being houseboys to politicians and VIPs. No seriously developing/developed country in the world where politician, jobless rich men, Malaysian returnee, yahoo boy, children/wives/girlfriends of politicians are guided with policemen.
6. When you withdraw policemen from escorting these so-called VIPS, they (VIPs) will start asking same security questions everyone else is asking. Win win. They are still free to obtain their own private bodyguards from security companies just as applicable in every other country. It will enable more policemen to be available at police stations and respond to emergencies instead of being holed up in one politicians’s house or the other.
Do either this or be screaming EndSARS on social media after every six months.

Nbotee:
Soooooo How much is the minimum wage dat was even recently approved?? How much are school teachers, doctors or even army army collecting...

inoki247:
So na d youth go dey pay dem as the Govt don fail dem

Nbotee:
Soooooo How much is the minimum wage dat was even recently approved?? How much are school teachers, doctors or even army army collecting...

madridguy:
Let them resign honorably no be by force.

Ikennamurphy:
What of other workers that receive 30k..nonsense excuse

MickzyDonald:
some teachers doesn't get paid at all but still doesn't start flogging the students unnecessarily to exploit money from them,so what does salary has to do we searching people's bag,abi the government left their salary there ni,and besides killing of our fellow human beings,we are disappointed in you for yabbing such word dear journalist or what sre you called, beings of zero sense,why don't you start sharing your hard earned money with them