The dissolution of the notorious police special anti-robbery squad (SARS) might have come as a welcome development considering how the unit seemed to have gotten totally out of control. For years, Nigerians had been calling for the abolition of SARS in the wake of several incidents of harassment, intimidation, extortion, and murder.
The response each time the demand was made was the same: such a move would be counterproductive, resulting in higher crime rates, particularly armed robbery and kidnapping that had become a serious source of concern in certain parts of the country. Instead, the government pledged to reform the unit.
However, the reforms never seemed to yield any results as Nigerians were still being treated to tales of atrocities being perpetrated by the squad on almost a daily basis. And nothing in those tales suggested even remotely that the special ‘anti-robbery’ unit even had fighting armed robbery on their agenda; rather, they had arrogated a new mandate to themselves.
Online financial fraud has been on the rise in the last 10 years in Nigeria with the government still yet to find effective mechanisms for combating the threat. In fact, Nigeria`s international reputation has been hurt on several occasions by the activities of internet fraudsters within the country who seem to be growing more sophisticated by the day.
Young people have begun to embrace cybercrime as a means of livelihood. This, of course, is not surprising in the light of rising social and economic inequality in the nation. It has become extremely difficult for graduates of the country`s tertiary institutions to find employment, and from all indications it seems that the future of youths has been hijacked by the ruling elite. One is, therefore, not surprised that the general attitude of the public towards online fraudsters has been lukewarm. Most people do not seem bothered since the victims are often foreigners.
In any case, law enforcement have struggled, largely due to lack of training, in taming cybercrime. Unsurprisingly. SARS operatives saw a huge opportunity in the lack of coordination in the fight against online fraud.
The operatives soon abandoned their core responsibilities to chase after cybercriminals commonly known as “Yahoo Boys”. Indeed, it was often during their “crackdown “on the supposed fraudsters that the many cases of brutality and extra judicial killings attributed to the squad occurred.
Any young male adult or teenager found in possession of relatively expensive mobile phones was deemed a criminal. People usually had their phones taken from them at gun point; the phones would then be examined for any “evidence” that might implicate the owner. Having any foreigner as a contact or friend on one`s social media account was often taken as good evidence of involvement in online fraud. There was no room for pleas or explanations.
The situation was even worse for men in their 20s and 30s who owned cars. SARS operatives did not believe any one in that age bracket was capable of owning a car through legitimate means. Boys who chose to wear dreadlocks stood no chance with the squad and could be forcefully taken into custody and abused.
Everywhere in the country, SARS operatives conducted stop-and-search operations aimed at fishing out online fraudsters. Phones and personal computers were often confiscated and never returned. During these operations, civilians were physically assaulted and brutalized if they refused to “cooperate” with the officers.
Those accused of being involved in cybercrime had to pay hefty bribes in order to be set free or else they could face consequences that could include being shot and killed. The more public complaints rose concerning the horror inflicted on ordinary citizens by the group, the more brutal it became and learned how to better cover traces of its crimes.
There have been countless reports of persons who were supposedly whisked away by SARS operatives and never found. Rumors have it that the bodies of victims who were shot were carried long distances and dumped in rivers or thrown into the bush. The police, as expected, always dismissed such reports, and when situation demanded, was quick to brand victims of such extra judicial killings as robbers.
The protests that erupted in October after it was reported that SARS operatives had shot and killed a young man in Delta state before carting away with his SUV went global. What began as a social media post quickly drew the attention of famous celebrities within and outside the country and before long it was trending worldwide. Within a few days, the so-called digital protests had snowballed into a physical nationwide protests in which demonstrators called for the dismantling of the SARS unit.
These physical protests immediately gained positive momentum and enjoyed overwhelming public support. As the protests raged through different parts of the country, the government announced it had disbanded the special anti-robbery squad that had unleased terror on civilians for years but not before more human right violations had been perpetrated in containing the protests. It was to be replaced by a new Special Weapons and Tactics team (SWAT).
The inspector-general of police stated during the initial announcement that members of the defunct SARS unit would undergo “psychological evaluation” before being redeployed, possibly to the SWAT team. It would be illegal for the new SWAT team to be involved in hunting down cybercriminals nor would it be permissible for them to conduct stop-and-search operations anywhere in the country. The SWAT operatives would be completely devoted to fighting armed robbery and other similar crimes. Judicial panels of enquiry were also to be established in different states to investigate reports on the excesses of the defunct SARS unit. Officers of the disbanded squad could be indicted and brought to justice.
Most Nigerians, however, were not optimistic about the reforms. It was not the first time the government had announced police reforms, and in the past all such initiatives failed. The so-called SWAT team would be selected from the current crop of police officers who are remarkably corrupt. It was not also made clear by what mechanism the rules would be enforced.
If there is one thing the police is clear on, it is that bribery is completely unacceptable and punishable under the Police Act. But ironically, bribery is the one thing that characterizes the force. There is no part of the country where police officers cannot be seen extorting motorists along the roads in the same manner suspects are extorted before being granted bail even when it is boldly written in police stations that bail is free.
This is done openly and in such a manner that leaves one with the impression that the officers are aware there cannot be any consequences for their actions. The police hierarchy cannot feign ignorance as there is every indication that the problem of bribery runs deep and through to the very top. If it is true that police violence in Nigeria is precipitated by an institutional framework that is devoid of accountability, then the recent attempt at reform is simply futile.
One consequence of the police being responsible for the preservation of the existing social order is that in totalitarian and unjust societies it serves as a tool of repression. The police in Nigeria cannot upend the existing political system where the rule of law is not upheld. In fact, the impunity and corruption seen among police is an indictment of the ruling class as well as a direct reflection of the political structures in the country.
To state that it is impossible to reform the police in isolation from the political and economic structures in Nigeria is to state the obvious. Some Nigerians seemed to have realized this when they stopped calling for the dissolution of the new SWAT team and instead began to demand for an end to police brutality and bad governance.
The government was quick to stifle attempts for renewed demonstrations. There were reports that the Central Bank had issued directives for the blocking of the bank accounts of some notable individuals who were galvanizing support for the protests via social media. One of the affected persons claimed to have been placed on travel restriction since she was “under an investigation”. Flutterwave, an online platform that was used for making contributions towards the protests, was also reported to have been summoned by the apex bank of the country, prompting demonstrators to switch to cryptocurrencies. Soldiers were mobilized to quell the protests and the manner in which it was done sent cold shivers down the spine of the public.
Footage emerged showing soldiers whipping a young woman who was accused of indecent dressing, presumably as part of their efforts to maintain law and order in Ibadan. A middle-aged man could also be seen having his hair shaved by one of the soldiers. The man in the video, recounting his ordeal, said he was summoned by the soldiers as he walked along the road. Without hesitation, he had responded, only to be asked to take off his cap. As soon as the soldiers had determined he had the “wrong haircut” they decided it was crucial to shave it off in order to protect the territorial integrity of the country and ward off external aggression which, in their view, the demonstrations had become.
Incidents like these only underscored the point that security operatives in the country will continue to violate the fundamental rights of citizens because of the absence of the rule of law in the Nigeria socio-political arena.
There are a number of methods that can be adopted to effectively transform the Nigeria Police Force. Some of the methods such as decentralization have been effective in some developed countries like the United Kingdom and Canada although there are centralizing elements in certain aspects of police services in both countries. It has, however, been pointed out that in developing countries of which Nigeria is an apt example, the outcomes of decentralization could be very much different from what the theory predicts. This could be due to the absence of supporting institutions or political frameworks that makes decentralization of police work in some countries but not in others.
In countries like the United States with a decentralized police force and a relatively high rate of police violence, efforts at police reforms have been aimed at policy reformulations. Some of the policies proposed by activists seek to reduce the likelihood of police resorting to the use of lethal of force in the discharge of their duties. It has been suggested, for instance, that provisions that permit the shooting of fleeing felons or moving vehicles be suspended. Some have equally suggested uniform training schemes for police officers that focus heavily on de-escalation; but one is not sure how effective these proposals might be, especially in areas with high crime rates where citizens are almost always lethally armed.
In sharp contrast with the situation in the United States, police violence in Nigeria rarely occurs in situations where operatives are confronted with armed or potentially dangerous suspects. Rather, unarmed civilians are brutalized for little or no offence even up to the point of being shot and killed for refusing to offer bribes to police officers.
It cannot also be said that the situation in Nigeria is comparable to that of crime-ridden countries like Syria, Venezuela, Brazil, and Afghanistan. How is it then that a country that does not rank among the top ten crime-prone countries already ranks seventh in police killings per ten million in 2020?
What must be done to ensure security operatives in Nigeria can be held to account? Regardless of what one might suppose, it seems these questions will be pondered for generations to come.