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ABSTRACT
Few days after Nigeria attained the sexagenarian status on October 1, 2020, the country has once again become a subject of unusual discourse both home and abroad. This is due to the protests by disgruntled youths against the activities of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad; a unit of the Nigeria Police Force, which has been accused of brutality, human rights violation, sexual abuse, torture, and extrajudicial killings among others. This study adopts a qualitative approach which draws data from reports of reputable international organisations, juried scholarly articles, working papers, and newspaper articles. The study concludes that the police adopts brutality, abuse, and violations as its tactics due to its inadequate equipment for investigation which makes officers deploy torture as a means of extracting the truth. This is further complicated by an ingrained culture of corruption, inadequate funding, political interference, inadequate personnel, and a pro-elite orientation. As a result, it is recommended that a sincere and comprehensive reform of the police be carried out to improve the welfare of the police; encourage the use of extensive technology, and improve police-community relations.
Notes
1 Akinyetun, State policing in Nigeria, 757.
2 Alemika, Police community relation, 187.
3 Ebohon and Ifeadi, Managing the problems, 5.
4 Aborisade and Obileye, Systematic brutality, 8.
5 Abegunde, Recurrent syndrome, 139.
6 Afon and Badiora, Accounting for variation, 241.
7 Nigeria Police Force, Force Criminal Investigation, 1.
8 Malumfashi, Nigeria’s SARS, 1.
9 Nnadozie, How I founded SARS in the Police, 1.
10 Malumfashi, Nigeria’s SARS, 1.
11 Ibid, 2.
12 Ibid, 2.
13 Amnesty International, Nigeria, 9.
14 US State Department, Country Reports, 1.
15 Ibid, 2.
16 Amnesty International, You have signed, 5.
17 Amnesty International, Nigeria: Time to end impunity, 24.
18 Usman, SARS: What Nigerians want, 1.
19 Ibid, 1.
20 Ibid, 1.
21 Ogbette, Idam and Kareem, Impact of SARS, 4.
22 Falola, SARS has been disbanded, 1.
23 Usman, SARS: What Nigerians want, 1.
24 Amnesty International, Police violence, 3.
25 Campbell, Anti-police demonstrations, 1.
26 Akeredolu, Nigerian protesters, 4.
27 Amnesty International, Nigeria: Time to end impunity, 3.
28 Akinlabi, Young people, procedural justice, 1.
29 Sunshine and Tyler, The role of procedural justice, 514.
30 Tyler, Legitimacy and cooperation, 86–87.
31 Bradford, Hohl, Jackson and MacQueen, Obeying the rules of the road, 174.
32 POST, Procedural justice and police legitimacy, 1.
33 Tyler and Darley, Building a law-abiding society, 710.
34 Hinds and Murphy, Public satisfaction with police, 28.
35 POST, Procedural justice and police legitimacy, 1.
36 Hinds and Murphy, Public satisfaction with police, 28.
37 Sunshine and Tyler, The role of procedural justice, 514.
38 Hinds and Murphy, Public satisfaction with police, 30.
39 Ibid, 30.
40 Tyler, Legitimacy and cooperation, 91.
41 Ibid, 91.
42 Sunshine and Tyler, The role of procedural justice, 514.
43 Scrase, Re-thinking procedural justice theory, 3.
44 Hinds and Murphy, Public satisfaction with police, 30.
45 Sunshine and Tyler, The role of procedural justice, 514.
46 Scrase, Re-thinking procedural justice theory, 1.
47 Worden, Police legitimacy and procedural justice, 1.
48 Czapska, Radomska, and Wojcik, Police legitimacy, procedural justice, 453.
49 POST, Procedural justice and police legitimacy, 1.
50 Czapska, Radomska, and Wojcik, Police legitimacy, procedural justice, 453.
51 POST, Procedural justice and police legitimacy, 1.
52 Ibid, 1.
53 Tyler, Enhancing police legitimacy, 87.
54 Hinds and Murphy, Public satisfaction with police, 29.
55 Ibid, 29.
56 Akinlabi, Do the police really protect and serve the public, 160.
57 Ibid, 160.
58 Jackson, Asif, and Bradford, Corruption and police legitimacy, 1069.
59 Ojedokun, Contributing factors to police homicide, 44.
60 Akinlabi, Young people, procedural justice and police legitimacy, 10.
61 Ibid, 10.
62 Scrase, Re-thinking procedural justice theory, 4.
63 Radburn, Stott, Bradford, and Robinson, When Is policing fair, 659.
64 Scrase, Re-thinking procedural justice theory, 4.
65 Nnadozie, How I founded SARS, 2.
66 Nwanze, On SARS, 1.
67 Amnesty International, Security forces, 2.
68 Olagunju, SARS Was Created, 1.
69 Nnadozie, How I founded SARS, 1.
70 Malumfashi, Nigeria’s SARS, 2.
71 Falola, SARS has been disbanded, 1.
72 Ibid, 1.
73 Onyegbula, #Endsars, #Endswat, 1.
74 US Department of State, Human Rights Practices-Nigeria, 13.
75 Ogbette, Idam and Kareem, Impact of SARS, 3.
76 Akinyetun, State policing in Nigeria, 756.
77 Onyegbula, #Endsars, #Endswat, 1.
78 Abubakar, Police have right to kill, 1.
79 Human Rights Watch, Rest in Pieces, 13.
80 Ibid, 13.
81 Ogbette, Idam and Kareem, Impact of SARS, 3.
82 Ibid, 16.
83 US Department of State, Human Rights Practices-Nigeria, 1.
84 Ibid, 6.
85 Ogbette, Idam and Kareem, Impact of SARS, 3.
86 Amnesty International, Nigeria: Time to end impunity, 3.
87 Amnesty International, Security forces, 16.
88 Muhammed, SARS: The Untold Story, 1.
89 Onyegbula, #Endsars, #Endswat, 1.
90 Amnesty International, Nigeria: Time to end impunity, 5.
91 Fapohunda, Police Reforms, 1.
92 Onyegbula, #Endsars, #Endswat, 1.
93 Hills, The Dialetic of Police Reform, 218.
94 Onyegbula, #Endsars, #Endswat, 1.
95 CLEEN, Motions without movement, 10.
96 Hills, The dialectic of police reform, 218.
97 Fapohunda, Police Reforms, 1.
98 Owen, Supporting police reform,1.
99 Onyegbula, #Endsars, #Endswat, 1.
100 Kwaja, Nigeria's Security Failures, 1.
101 Ibid, 1.
102 Mishra, #EndSARS and Nigeria’s police, 1.
103 Ojewale, Youth protest, 1.
104 Apuke and Tunca, Understanding the implications, 3.
105 Amnesty International, Police violence, 4.
106 Amnesty International, Nigeria: Time to end impunity, 4.
107 Paquette, Nigerian protesters say security forces fired, 1.
108 Amnesty International, Police violence, 1.
109 Ibid, 1.
110 Amnesty International, Welcome to Hell Fire, 24.
111 Amnesty International, Security forces, 16.
112 Ibid, 16.
113 Aborisade and Obileye, Systematic brutality, 13.
114 Amnesty International, Nigeria: You have signed your death warrant, 11.
115 US State Department, Country report on human rights practices, 3.
116 Ibid, 11.
117 NOPRIN, Criminal force, 57.
118 Ibid, 61.
119 Amnesty International, Nigeria: You have signed your death warrant, 11.
120 Amnesty International, Welcome to hell fire, 24.
121 NOPRIN, Criminal force, 54.
122 Nigerian National Youth Policy, Enhancing youth development, 6.
123 Amnesty International, Nigeria: Time to end impunity, 15.
124 Ibid, 15.
125 Ibid, 10.
126 Ibid, 17.
127 Ibid, 33.
128 Amnesty International, Welcome to hell fire, 33.
129 Ibid, 33.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Tope Shola Akinyetun
Tope Shola Akinyetun is a student of political science whose research interests include - but are not limited to - identity politics, violence, terrorism, youth studies, crime studies and development studies. In addition to being a Rosalind Member of the London Journal Press, he also reviews notable journals like New Media Society (Sage Publications), the African Journal of Terrorism and Insurgency Research, the African Journal of Governance and Development etc. which are captured on his Publons profile. He has published several articles in notable peer-reviewed international journals and presented papers in noteworthy conferences. He has featured in Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy and Governance (Springer) and other significant platforms. He is a member of notable international organizations such as the International Political Science Association, Midwest Political Science Association, International Association for Political Science Students and the International Society for Development and Sustainability.