By Okechukwu Nwanguma
October 2020 marked a defining second in Nigeria’s historical past. For weeks, younger Nigerians occupied streets and public squares, united by a easy however profound demand: Finish Police brutality, guarantee accountability, and reform the Nigeria Police. The #EndSARS motion was a cry from a technology that had grown weary of impunity. It was a name for dignity and justice.
Authorities’s response was swift however shallow. SARS was disbanded, and nearly instantly, the Particular Weapons and Ways, SWAT, unit was introduced as its alternative. Nigerians noticed by means of it, previous wine in a brand new bottle. The protests, initially peaceable, had been met with violent repression. The tragic occasions on the Lekki Tollgate, Lagos, stay a wound on the nation’s conscience.
5 years later, the guarantees that adopted the protests lie unfulfilled. The identical patterns of brutality, extortion, and impunity persist. Police reform, loudly proclaimed in 2020, has failed but once more. To know why, we should look past slogans to the structural and political roots of Nigeria’s policing disaster.
The Colonial legacy that persists
The Nigeria Police was by no means designed to serve the folks. Created by colonial authorities, it functioned as an instrument of coercion – to implement order, not justice; to guard the state, not residents. That legacy endures. Regardless of discuss of “reform,” the policing philosophy stays authoritarian fairly than democratic.
The passage of the Police Act 2020 appeared, at first, to sign a brand new starting. It changed the colonial-era Police Act of 1943, enshrining rules of accountability, human rights, and neighborhood partnership. It prohibited torture, assured entry to authorized illustration, and mandated due course of. It additionally promised steady management and clear funding.
On paper, it was a watershed. In follow, it has been largely ignored.
Why reforms maintain failing
Nigeria’s failure to reform the Police isn’t for lack of concepts or legal guidelines. Since 2006, greater than a dozen presidential committees have proposed complete reforms. Every time, the sample repeats: public hearings, elaborate reviews, white papers, lofty guarantees and silence.
The explanations are depressingly constant:
1. Political interference: The Police Council, constitutionally empowered to information coverage and management appointments, not often meets. Presidents proceed to nominate Inspectors-Normal primarily based on loyalty fairly than advantage, undermining professionalism.
2. Perennial underfunding: Officers usually depend on complainants and suspects to fund investigations. This breeds extortion and abuse. The Police Belief Fund exists, however its operations stay opaque and its impression invisible.
3. Corrupt recruitment: Political patronage and bribery dominate recruitment. When unqualified or criminally- inclined people are admitted, coaching turns into futile.
4. Weak accountability: The Complaints Response Unit, CRU, and the Police Service Fee, PSC, are starved of sources and independence. Perpetrators of abuse are not often punished, deepening the tradition of impunity.
5. Neglect of welfare: Poor salaries, collapsing barracks, and lack of healthcare or psychological help crush morale. A uncared for officer can not embody integrity or professionalism.
Justice for victims: Nonetheless out of attain
The judicial panels of inquiry established after #EndSARS heard horrifying testimonies of torture, extortion, illegal detention, and extrajudicial killings. Some state panels made suggestions for compensation and prosecution. Only a few have been carried out. Households of victims nonetheless await justice, whereas perpetrators proceed to put on the uniform of the state – generally even promoted.
This sustained failure to analyze, punish, and treatment abuses violates Nigeria’s obligations underneath worldwide human rights regulation and reinforces public distrust. It indicators that the state values impunity over justice.
A nation nonetheless in ache
5 years after #EndSARS, the situations that triggered the protests stay unchanged. Insecurity has deepened throughout the nation. Kidnapping, banditry, and extrajudicial killings flourish. Residents don’t belief the Police, and the Police don’t belief residents, a breakdown that undermines the very essence of public security.
Younger Nigerians, the identical demographic that drove the #EndSARS motion, proceed to be profiled, harassed, and extorted. Being younger, tech-savvy, or well-dressed stays grounds for illegal arrest or intimidation. The system has realized nothing.
What should change
Nigeria doesn’t want one other panel or rebranded tactical unit. The roadmap for real reform already exists. What’s missing is political will and institutional accountability.
1. Full implementation of the Police Act 2020 – From due course of safeguards to Police Council conferences and neighborhood oversight.
2. Clear, merit-based recruitment – With psychological analysis and background checks to make sure health and self-discipline.
3. Improved welfare and repair situations – First rate pay, housing, and healthcare have to be handled as rights, not privileges.
4. Practical accountability mechanisms – Strengthen and useful resource the CRU and PSC to function independently and successfully.
5. Justice for victims – Implement judicial panel suggestions, prosecute offenders, and compensate households.
6. Energetic citizen oversight – Civil society and the general public should stay vigilant, demanding motion and refusing beauty reforms.
5 years after: A time for reflection and renewal
#EndSARS was not only a protest; it was a mirror held as much as the Nigerian state. It uncovered the failure of governance, the erosion of belief, and the price of neglecting accountability. It additionally revealed the braveness, creativity, and solidarity of Nigerian youth – qualities the nation should nurture, not crush.
As we mark 5 years since #EndSARS, we keep in mind the victims, those that had been killed, wounded, and traumatised. We honour their braveness and reaffirm our dedication to the trigger for which they stood: justice, accountability, and a humane policing system.
The wrestle for Police reform is much from over. Till Nigeria dismantles the colonial DNA of repression and builds a very democratic Police service based on rights, empathy, and partnership with the folks, the spirit of #EndSARS will proceed to stay – an unfulfilled promise and an ethical problem to our democracy.
5 years on, the message stays clear: Nigeria doesn’t want new slogans or new uniforms.
It wants justice, accountability, and the political will to vary. Solely then can we actually say that those that died for #EndSARS didn’t die in useless.
*Okechukwu Nwanguma is the Govt Director, Rule of Regulation and Accountability Advocacy Centre – RULAAC.
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