Read about the recent police brutality going on in Nigeria and how we can stand in solidarity.
Edited by Emily Kuchuk
Police brutality doesn’t begin or end with America. It is a global issue. SARS is the Special Anti-Robbery Squad in Nigeria. For at least 3 years they have been known to be brutal and have usedexcessive force when dealing with people. At the end of 2017, protesters demanded that the institution of SARS should be looked into by the government, but the response lacked the urgency that was needed. The Nigerian Police Force attempted to downplay the issue by tweeting: “If u’ve contact with SARS personnel and u’ve any complaints about deir actions or inactions, u’re at liberty 2 report deir conducts 2 various platforms provided by the NPF [Nigerian Police Force] to deal with unprofessional conduct of members of the Force rather dan call 4 end SARS 08057000001” (Note: the tweet is in Pidgen English, which is why it may look unconventional). This clearly shows the arrogance of the institution. They would not take the criticism and necessary changes in order to keep their own civilians. Fast-forward to this month, there have been more calls to end SARS. Nigerians want the whole organization disbanded. There have been several videos captured that have circulated social media showing the corrupt, violent nature of SARS. They have no patience and oftentimes try to extort money from the victims. Amnesty International, an international civil rights organization, has cited at least 82 cases of “torture, ill treatment and extra-judicial execution by SARS between January 2017 and May 2020.” Although Nigeria passed an Anti-Torture in 2017, it simply has not been followed. To make matters worse, Amnesty’s research showed that no SARS officer has been held accountable for documented human rights violations. This shares many parallels to police brutality in America, especially Breonna Taylor who was shot and killed in her own home by police. In addition, the Nigerian Police often cite the instances when police are as brutal as people who are “bad eggs” in the larger system. As with the United States, the Nigerian Police fail to realize that the problem is systemic. For example, it is no coincidence that SARS tend to target people who have dreads, believing them to be “guilty based on their appearance”. This is something they must have been taught by their training system. Through the protests, the Nigerian Inspector General of Police announced on October 11th that they had called for the disbandment of SARS. Although on the surface, it seems like this would end all the issues, it fails to recognize that there needs to be government-wide reform. As Toyin Falola, a Nigerian historian, says, Nigeria has a “culture of glossing over and ‘managing’ situations in dire need of purposeful intervention and commitment . . .” Falola goes on to describe how the people already in SARS will be moved into other police branches. They would not be charged with their crimes, so they will most likely display the same corrupt behavior. There needs to be government reform in order to fix these issues. As Majek Fashek stated in 1988 with his song “Police Brutality”, “Police brutality, they kill, they shoot, dem dey loot, dem dey kill leaders of tomorrow. Dem kill only innocent souls, insanity. This insanity has caused a lot of disunity in my community.” This needless, inhumane treatment by police forces needs to end globally. Stand in solidarity. EndSARS. Sources: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-54499497 https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/06/nigeria-horrific-reign-of-impunity-by-sars-makes-mockery-of-anti-torture-law/ https://news.sky.com/story/end-sars-why-nigerias-anti-police-brutality-protests-have-gone-global-12107555 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/12/world/africa/nigeria-protests-police-sars.htmlhttps://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-54407397 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-42225314 https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/sars-police-nigeria-corruption-government-reform-protest-b1013164.html
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