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By: Diane Sun
Mirroring America’s Black Lives Matter movement, Nigerians have taken to the streets and to social media in protest of police brutality. Although Nigerian protestors have been calling for change for years, their movement has reached a new momentum this month, with thousands of Nigerians sharing their experiences of abuse at the hands of Nigeria’s Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) using the hashtag #EndSARS on social media. Drawing the support of international activists, celebrities, and crowdfunding from ordinary people, the Feminist Coalition, the group partially responsible for organizing the protests, has managed to raise over $192,000, which is being used to hire guards to protect protestors, pay for private ambulances, and cover the legal bills of arrested protestors.
What exactly is the Special Anti-Robbery Squad?
Founded in 1992, SARS is a unit of the Nigerian Police Force originally aimed at combating the rise of armed robbery in Nigeria. Ironically, it is now one of the main perpetrators of violence towards Nigerian citizens. As a special unit, SARS officers often work in plain clothes and unmarked cars, allowing them to abuse and extort citizens.
Amnesty International has documented at least 82 cases of torture, ill-treatment, and extra-judicial execution by SARS from January 2017 to May 2020. SARS officers force victims to hand over large bribes with the threat of violence, murder, or detention. This reflects the corruption in and worsens Nigeria’s already broken criminal justice system, where 72.5% of inmates are serving time in local prisons without a sentence. While victims of SARS abuse are predominantly young men from low-income or vulnerable communities, Nigerian women also face sexual violence from SARS officers as well.
How is the Nigerian government responding?
Protestors have been met with more police brutality through live ammunition, water cannons, tear gas, and beatings. Journalists have had their filming equipment destroyed or confiscated. Amnesty International Nigeria estimates that, during the recent protests, at least 10 protestors have been killed, and hundreds have been injured or arrested.
The Nigerian army has begun a nationwide military exercise, Operation Crocodile Smile, from October 20th to December 31st. Although the government denies that this latest move is related to the demonstrations, this is the first time this military exercise has been held nationwide rather than just in the Delta region. Prior to the start of this exercise, Nigeria’s army had already threatened to step in against “subversive elements and troublemakers”, warning that they were “ready to fully support the civil authority in whatever capacity to maintain law and order and deal with any situation decisively”.
However, the security forces that have been sent to crack down on protestors are not SARS officers but rather ordinary Nigerian policemen. While the focus of the protests remains on police brutality by the specific police force unit of SARS, more and more scrutiny is justifiably being placed upon the entirety of Nigeria’s police force. A 2017 internal survey from the Nigerian Statistics Bureau found that out of all Nigerian civil servants, police officers were the most likely to solicit and collect bribes. The 2016 World Internal Security and Police Index ranked Nigeria’s police force as the worst of all 127 countries, showing corruption and police brutality not just in the SARS special unit but in the entirety of the Nigerian police force.
Recognizing the significance of the entire police force is important because although the Nigerian Inspector General of Police has reportedly dissolved the Special Anti-Robbery Squad in response to protesters' demands, the devil is in the details. This is the fourth time in the last four years that restrictions have been placed on the unit, and each restriction has led to little or no effects This time, the Inspector General has called for SARS officers to be redeployed to other units and created a replacement unit called the Special Weapons and Tactics Team (SWAT). Unfortunately, this only means that the same corrupt officers will be redeployed to other corrupt, ineffective, and abusive police forces, resulting in little to no systemic change.
The problem with Nigeria’s police is structural, and the solution must be as well.
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