The stern warning issued by the Lagos State Police Command in response to plans by civil society organizations to commemorate the first anniversary of last year’s #EndSARS protest is one more example of the odium Nigerian police officers bring upon the nation; and this is disheartening, given that such impunity and official rascality is occurring under a supposed democratic dispensation. It is a sickening reflection of how Nigeria has failed to modernize its institutions and the rather absolute lack of the basic attributes of civility in public engagement on the part of the Nigerian police. More shocking, is the fact that similar threats to the #EndSARS memorial organizers have also been issued from other state police commands. The right to protest is a constitutional right guaranteed under Section 38 of the 1999 constitution as amended; hence the police objection to the right of free assembly and peaceful protest is unlawful, condemnable and indefensible. It is also a violation of their oath of allegiance to defend the country and the constitution under Part II of the Fifth Schedule to the constitution. For far too long, Nigerians have been subjected to various acts of brutality and extortion by a state apparatus put in place to ensure their safety; they have put up with a lot of police impunity, and it would be unwise for the government to continue to test their patience.
A tepid statement by Hakeem Odumosu, Commissioner of Police, Lagos State reads: “Credible intelligence at the disposal of the Command has revealed clandestine plans by some youths, individuals or groups to embark on a protest today in commemoration of one-year anniversary of ENDSARS… In view of the volatility of the situation in the country, and the breakdown of law and order which the planned protest might cause, the Lagos State police Command sternly warns against any form of protest… To forestall breakdown of law and order, the police will use legitimate means within their constitutional powers to suppress the planned protest. Therefore, parents and guardians are advised to warn their children against participating in the planned protest. Individuals or groups sponsoring such protest are also warned in their own interest to desist from such unpatriotic plan or face the full weight or wrath of the law.”
The halting grammar and rambling syntax aside; given the terrible scenario playing out in the country, manifested in rising insecurity, mass poverty, high corruption in government, gross official recklessness and near zero governance, the police threats to suppress the planned protests, are unconscionable acts that portray Nigeria as barbaric and lawless. The premeditated nature of last year’s attacks on EndSARS protesters; the curfew, the threats, removal of cameras and contrived power outage reflect the security deficit and incompetence on the part of relevant civilian and military authorities across the chain of command. The extra-judicial killing of unarmed civilians was a crime against humanity, made even more heinous when committed by security officers charged with protecting lives and property without provocation. Videos from the Lekki tollgate showing young men and women, wrapped in Nigerian flags, soaked with blood were difficult to watch. It was just as well that the gruesome shooting attracted global condemnation, with a towering babel of voices urging President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately order the arrest and prosecution of the officers involved. That blight on the toga of the country’s international image was an infamy that has become another sore on Nigeria.
The shooting attracted reactions from the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres; former US President, Bill Clinton; former US Vice President and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, Joe Biden; UK Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, Dominic Raab; President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana; the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby; the European Union, and the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi. They all expressed concern about the shooting of the protesters and called for restraint in the use of force. The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF) did not minced words in calling for Buhari’s resignation; and the investigation and trial of the President; the then Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Buratai, as well as other possible accomplices, including Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for what the group said, amounted to genocide. But curiously, in his first address to the nation after the shootings, President Buhari appealed for calm, without directly addressing the killing of unarmed protesters, thereby fueling public anger and frustration.
For two weeks, October 8- 22, 2020, the nation was shaken to its core as youths protesting police brutality, demanded the disbandment of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a unit of the police force accused of extortion and extrajudicial killings. The #EndSARS protest culminated in a controversial deployment of Nigerian army officers who opened fire on harmless protesters who were wielding the Nigerian flag and chanting the national anthem at the Lekki toll gate in Lagos. This triggered violence in Lagos and across the country, which claimed the lives of 23 police officers and the destruction of over 200 police stations. Properties worth billions of naira, particularly public assets belonging to the Lagos state government were looted and destroyed; an estimated 56 protesters and innocent civilians also lost their lives; whose loved ones continue to live in grief.
In response, the federal government directed that special panels of inquiry be set up across the country, to examine the causes of the protests and make appropriate recommendations especially with regard to compensation for victims. While most states set up panels of inquiry, Kano, Kebbi, Sokoto, Jigawa, Yobe and Zamfara rejected the idea. In total, only 29 states and the FCT constituted the panels. Essentially, only the Judicial Panel of Inquiry and Restitution in Lagos State appeared to have made any serious effort. The eight-man panel led by Justice Doris Okuwobi considered about 230 petitions and awarded over N400 million as damages to victims of police brutality. The panel in Taraba was hampered by lack of funding. The Imo panel awarded N770.9 million as damages after considering 145 petitions; the Ondo panel awarded N755 million as compensation.
Overall, the panels received about 2,500 petitions across the country. As expected, the petitions ranged from gross violations of human rights including indiscriminate arrests, illegal detentions, extortion, sexual and gender-based violence to torture and extra-judicial killings. Some of the testimonies at the hearing bear the hallmark of horrors and treatment best reserved for the medieval era. So far, 28 states have managed to complete their assignments with various recommendations for financial compensation to victims but there is no evidence that anybody has received any compensation.
More troubling is that the issues of injustice and humiliation suffered by victims of the police brutality that led to the protests are yet to be addressed. On the specific matter of police reform on which the original protest was premised, the federal government made certain promises. But beyond empty rhetoric, nothing concrete has been done to address those issues. The dissolution of the SARS unit that provoked the protests notwithstanding, victims and relations of victims who appeared before the judicial commissions in many states are demanding justice. That policemen involved in such egregious acts like torture, extra-judicial killings and other abuses have not been held accountable is why there is still much anger in the streets. Nigerians fear the panels because similar panels in the past did not achieve any meaningful results as their reports never saw daylight or were never implemented.
In point of fact though, there is nowhere in the Nigeria Police Act that empowers it to become illegal instruments of brutality and aggression against the Nigerian people. A situation where those entrusted with the duty of safeguarding the life of the citizenry turn around to kill young people with impunity is totally condemnable and unacceptable. Security operatives should learn not to take laws into their hands to kill people, no matter the provocation. They are supposed to be trained officers who should abide by the laws of the land. If the peaceful protesters who blocked the Lekki tollgate were deemed to have broken the law, they should have been arrested. The courts are there to prosecute offenders. When those who are supposed to maintain law and order become the law breakers, it is a sign that the society has broken down. The Nigeria Police is not a private militia; it is a security service to the nation, whose primary purpose is to maintain law and order, and ensure security of lives and property of all citizens. The best way to ensure the police and other security agencies will return to their primary purpose and practice is to decentralize the police. The nation stands to lose with the present status quo.
At a time of palpable unrest when the country contends with various groups agitating for secession, Nigerians need credible reasons to believe in the continuous existence of the Nigerian project. A pervasive sense of injustice does not help in building such trust. The president must order the Police IG to rein in his men and ensure that the planned #EndSARS memorial protests are peaceful. The police cannot afford to re-open old wounds by intimidating, harassing and molesting Nigerians who chose to commemorate the anniversary of the #EndSARS protests. Above all, the government must ensure that the #EndSARS victims are adequately compensated, culprits within the police and armed forces are duly sanctioned, and that the nation is spared any such calamity in future.
