Almost a month ago, peaceful protests to ban a police unit called the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Nigeria began. SARS has continuously been accused of brutality, violence, killings, and other abuses, and have stayed true to this as the protests have turned violent. The movement #EndSARS started all the way back in 2017, and has now begun to circle social media as a call for police reform in Nigeria and the disbanding of the SARS unit. The recent protests began after video footage circled the internet showing a SARS officer shooting a man and then driving away, and the person filming the video was arrested, sparking anger in Nigerians. One of the worst attacks on peaceful protesters occurred in Lekki, where soldiers shot into a crowd of civilians. The protesters have been tear gassed and repressed, and the government has failed to take proper action. President Muhammadu Buhari has refused to directly condemn the attacks, instead expressing disapproval of the outrage towards police officers and saying that Nigerians have been lying about the government through social media. The UN, EU, and AU are among groups who have spoken out about the violence and encouraged a solution by the government.
The SARS movement is one of, if not the largest, issues going on in Nigeria right now. The police brutality in the country has been occurring for many years, and mirrors the issue of police brutality in the United States, through deep rooted issues in the police system and violent protests in both countries. The attacks against protesters highlight the abuse by SARS, and violate the constitutional protections upon freedom of expression in the country. Censorship has historically been an issue in Nigeria, as the media is controlled and influenced by the Nigerian government. This explains the outrage from Buhari over the social media movement to #EndSARS and the spreading of awareness about police brutality in the country, as he believes this is tarnishing the country’s image. If nothing is done to combat the issue, Nigerian police brutality will continue, likely worsening over officers anger by the protests. SARS has previously been banned 4 times, and banning it again would likely have similar results, therefore more intense and definitive action is necessary to combat the issue.
This relates to what we’ve been discussing in class through the involvement of IGOs. The situation in Nigeria of police brutality is a political issue, which is why political IGOs such as the United Nations, European Union, and African Union have all expressed involvement or talked about getting involved in the issue. Recently the violence in Nigeria has been brought into the United States presidential election. When the situation is analyzed at a global level, the lack of government action in Nigeria is perceived as a threat to their democracy, which is an large factor in the governance of the United States and the reason behind their potential involvement.