Governors of the Northern states of the country, yesterday, opposed wholesale disbandment of SARS. They argued that the unit, under the auspices of the Nigeria Police, had been doing a job in the fight against insecurity in the region. Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum and Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong, spoke in Abuja while fielding questions from State House correspondents after he met with President Muhammadu Buhari.

Lalong argued that though the President had already approved the scrapping of SARS, the northern states did not believe the squad should be disbanded because of its shortcomings. The governor said what was needed was reformation of the unit to enable it carry out its functions optimally. He, however, conceded that there were divisions in the country regarding the continued existence of the unit.

But the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), an umbrella body for all state executives in the country yesterday defied the National Economic Council (NEC) and asked IGP Adamu to disband the newly created Special Weapons and Tactics Team (SWAT), which the police had announced in place of SARS.