Police Brutality: Why Are Tens of Thousands of Nigeria Protesting?

Nigerians have been protesting against the police brutality and violence of a special department in the police force named SARS – Special Anti-Robbery Squad. The protests have erupted into broader anti-government demonstrations, which has led to deadly consequences for most Nigerians.

The citizens of the country, especially the youths, are expressing their supports to the protests through social media, Twitter with the trending hashtag #EndSARS calling for the eradication of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), which has long been accused of unlawful arrests, torture, and killings.

The protest started with a viral video allegedly showing the SARS officers killing a young man in the southern Delta state. The citizens were provoked through the extrajudicial killing carried out by the police officers and started the protest to put an end to the police brutality and violence.

However, with the protests growing large and expanding, the Nigerian government disbanded the police unit on October 11.

“The disbanding of SARS is only the first step in our commitment to extensive police reform in order to ensure that the primary duty of the police and other law enforcement agencies remains the protection of lives and livelihood of our people,” President Muhammadu Buhari said.

The Head of the Police force referred to as IGP – Inspector General of Police formed a new Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team to replace SARS and calls for all personnel involved to report to the police headquarters in the capital, Abuja, for debriefing and psychological and medical examination.

Contrary to the government’s decision and announcement, the protests were not satisfied and continued their demonstrations. The protesters viewed the government actions as incomplete action, as the Police unit (SARS) was re-named.

The protesters requested their demands to be met, including the immediate release of all arrested protesters, justice for all deceased victims of brutality, and appropriate compensation for their families.

They also call for an independent body to oversee the investigation and persecution of all reports of police misconduct; psychological evaluation and retraining of all disbanded SARS officers before they can be redeployed, and an increase in police salary, so they are adequately compensated for protecting the lives and property of the citizens.

Many are also calling for a more wide-sweeping change in Nigeria, which has the largest number of people living in extreme poverty in the world and a massive youth unemployment rate.

Thousands of people took to the streets in a string of cities, bringing traffic to a standstill in Nigeria’s economic hub and largest city Lagos. This made the Lagos state government imposed a curfew on her citizens and deployed anti-riot police units to impose the curfew, but witnesses and rights groups said soldiers opened fire on demonstrators who had defied a curfew in Lagos.

Amnesty confirmed that “the Nigerian army and police killed at least 12 peaceful protesters yesterday at two locations in Lagos. Killings took place in Lekki and Alausa, where thousands were protesting police brutality.” While the government said 25 people were wounded but that there were no fatalities during the Lekki toll plaza incident in Lagos.

Moreover, SARS was a police unit set up many years ago as Nigeria battled with different crimes and kidnappings.

At first, it successfully reduced violent crime cases, but according to Fulani Kwajafa, the former Inspector General of Police and SARS’ founder, “the unit had turned into banditry.”

In June 2020, Amnesty International released a report that documented 82 cases of torture, ill-treatment, and extrajudicial execution by SARS between January 2017 and May 2020.

The #EndSARS protests have taken place in several cities worldwide, including London, Berlin, New York, and Toronto.

Several celebrities worldwide have voiced their support for the protesters online.

On Tuesday, former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on President Buhari and the Nigerian army to stop killing protesters.