Officers of the tactical unit have become public enemy number one over the past few years for numerous acts of abuse including harassment, extortion, torture, and extra-judicial murder.

Millions of Nigerians have campaigned for years to have the unit scrapped after numerous high profile incidents that eroded public trust in them.

The campaign has been largely sidestepped by authorities who have instead announced reforms over the years that have failed to properly curb the unit's menace.

The latest outrage against FSARS over the past weekend led the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, to announce a number of restrictions to their operations on Sunday, October 4, 2020.

While speaking during an interactive session with musical artiste, Azeez Fashola, aka Naira Marley, on Tuesday, October 6, Force PRO, Frank Mba, said the unit cannot be scrapped because of how useful it is to crime-fighting.

"What we need to do is to reform SARS and make them responsive, responsible and make them work in accordance with laid down procedures.

"We need them to continue to respond to violent crimes. We need them to continue to respond to armed robberies. We need them to continue to respond to kidnappings," Mba said.

The IGP on Monday, October 5 also appealed for patience from Nigerians while he reforms the notorious unit.

He reaffirmed his commitment towards ensuring the enforcement of ongoing reforms, and noted that the latest measures will curb future incidents of extra-judicial activities by officers.

According to new measures approved by Adamu, FSARS and other tactical squads are banned from carrying out routine patrols, and other conventional low-risk duties including stop and search duties, checkpoints, mounting of roadblocks, and traffic checks.

They are also banned from embarking on patrols or assignments without official uniform or tactical gear.

"The IGP has warned the tactical squads against the invasion of the privacy of citizens particularly through indiscriminate and unauthorized search of mobile phones, laptops and other smart devices.

"They are to concentrate and respond only to cases of armed robbery, kidnapping and other violent crimes when the need arises," an official statement read.

Many Nigerians have expressed little confidence in the new measures, especially since they were measures similarly announced in 2017, 2018, and 2019.

Despite the IGP's moves, there are a series of protests scheduled to take place against police brutality in some states this week.