\”More than Ending SARS\”

More than one year after the famous \”End SARS\” protests rocked major Nigerian cities, police brutality in Nigeria has remained unresolved. On October 20th 2021, young Nigerians are holding processions in many locations nationwide to remember those who have died due to extra-judicial killings by state security actors and equally remember victims of the alleged \”Lekki massacre\”. The protests in 2020 were against the notorious policing unit, Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and years of police brutality, especially on young Nigerians.

Government\’s immediate response to calls against police brutality in October 2020 was to disband the infamous SARS. However, tracked data from the Nextier SPD Violent Database indicates continual incidents of extra-judicial killings more than one year after.  About 168 persons in 26 incidents have died as a result of extra-judicial killings by security forces. The data speaks to a broader fundamental issue with Nigerian security agencies. More than ending SARS, it is an indication to overhaul the security sector to mitigate challenges such as extra-judicial killings, tardiness and lack of faith in the criminal justice system, unprofessionalism and security personnel\’s high-handedness. Essentially, the nationwide \”#End SARS\” movement speaks to the broader institutional challenges within the security sector.

Echoes of police brutality is an exposure of failed criminal justice system in Nigeria. Beyond unconstitutional activities of Nigerian security organisations, extra-judicial killings in the public space exist and manifest as mob attacks and jungle justice. These issues portray public trust deficits in the criminal justice system, a culture of lawlessness and reactive response to crime. A 2014 survey conducted by NOI-POLL, a country-specific polling service in West Africa, revealed that 51 per cent of Nigerians attribute the high prevalence of jungle justice to a \’lack of trust in the law enforcement agencies. Reports say that out of the nearly 74,000 inmates in the country, only about 24,000 have been convicted. This means that almost 70 per cent of the total prison population is awaiting trial. The tardiness of the law in dispensing justice and perceptions of corruption in government institutions is agreeably a contributive factor to quick and dirty mob action, which purportedly ensures that suspected criminals are not lost to the slow-paced and presumably corrupt criminal justice system.

Addressing incidents of extra-judicial killings and police brutality should be a proactive engagement. The wide-reaching conversations by young Nigerians on police brutality should open opportunities and programming on youth engagement in the face of the exponential rise of security threats, dwindling public commitment to collaborate in crime-fighting and maintaining a safe and peaceful society. Government should therefore capitalise on the \”show of patriotism\” through the calls for police reform to first address the listed challenges within the Force, open conversations on public partnership and accountability frameworks. This activism to development turnaround will help to increase security actors\’ efficiency through fruitful public collaborations and set the tempo for public scrutiny, and improved accountability mechanisms for security organisations in Nigeria.

Emphasis on broader institutional reform. Responding to the cries against police brutality should include a wider focus on the parent body of SARS, the police force. The activities of the \”disbanded\” unit transcend through its parent body (the Police Force) and reflect the systemic issues in the Force. According to the Human Rights Watch (HRW), \”everyone is in on the game\”. In Nigeria, the Force has become a symbol of corruption, mismanagement and abuse. As a policy option, disbanding the unit means redeploying its members to mainstream Police, where they are likely to relaunch the cycle of extra-judicial killings and brutality.

Government should focus on comprehensive security sector reforms and a revamp of the criminal justice system. It also means addressing the police trust deficit. There is a need to commission a study to understand the gaps between the Police Act and actual policing practice in Nigeria. Such a study would help understand the conditions that make the police accept and operationalise human rights in policing, become driven towards effectiveness, efficiency and eschew corruption. Similarly, it should engage with the citizens to determine what conditions would make them accept and work in harmony with the Police. Unending police reform calls should lead to sustainable and citizens-centred institutional changes.