Full name:

Okubote Kolade Emmanuel

Matric number

180903531

Course code

POL 331

Course title

LOGIC AND METHODS OF POLITICAL INQUIRY

Assignment question

IMAGINE THAT YOU ARE CONDUCTING RESEARCH ON ‘POLICE

BRUTALITY AND #EndSARS AGITATIONS IN NIGERIA, WRITE A

COMPREHENSIVE LITERATURE REVIEW USING JOURNAL ARTICLES

AND ONLINE SOURCES.

Special Anti-Robbery Squad, popularly known as SARS is a unit of the Nigerian

Police Force charged with the primary function of performing undercover operations

against crimes associated with armed robbery, car theft, kidnapping, and crimes

associated with firearms.

The Unit was established in 1992 and following its creation, the group has been

accused of a number of human rights violations such as Illegal arrests and detentions,

Extrajudicial killings etc

Prior to October 2020 there had been agitations for the disbandment of SARS due to

their unlawful activities. The grievances against SARS started as far back as 2015

when Amnesty International investigated their activities and discovered several cases

of unlawful detainment, torture and other forms of brutality perpetrated by SARS.

The allegations against them became incessant in subsequent years and each time

Nigerians voiced out, the Federal government would give assurances as to one reform

or the other but the allegations of brutality leveled against the unit continued to

increase despite the said reforms. The Nigerian government had on three different

occasions announced the rehabilitation and reform of SARS in 2017, 2018, and 2019

respectively, following a call for its total disbandment by citizens.

circulated on Social media showing a SARS officer shooting a young Nigerian in

Delta State. This led to the nationwide protests and the many undesirable events that

followed, including but not limited to  the  killings of innocent civilians and also law

enforcement personnel as well as the attack on protesters by unknown gun men

alleged to have appeared in Military Uniform at major protest ground in Lekki.

Instances and Patterns of Unlawful Killings by Officers of the Special Anti-Robbery

Squad of the Nigeria Police

It is a known fact that Police operations are vital towards maintenance of peace,

security, law and order in the country but the public are put aback when their rights

get infringed upon as operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) carry out

unlawful/brutal killings under different guises in discharging their duties. Several

instances of SARS officers’ killings at checkpoints, killings during operations and

raids, killings in police detention and many others have been reported.

The growing pattern of unlawful killings by officers of the SARS manifests itself in

various ways , and the methods in which they are involved in the dastardly act often

times than not, seeks to serve as a cover up for the crimes committed (Field Survey,

2019).

The Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) officers get themselves involved in counter

active crime prevention activities, review and redefine strategic approaches towards

crime control, planning and organizing raids to combat civil disturbances, criminal
activities such as armed robberies, looting, rioting among others. But the SARS

officers under the charade of police operations, SARS officers have been identified to

uncontrollably and unlawfully kill innocent citizens or individuals who they usually

allege made attempts to escape (Source: Field Survey, 2019).

In the same vein, the “Police Force Order 237” statutorily permits the police officers

to shoot at suspects attempting to evade arrests. But in nowadays, there have are

claims that the police abuse this provision of the law by killing suspects who have not

attempted to flee or evade arrest and planting evidence to back their crime (Police Act

Cap, 2004).

The SARS officers are reported to have been involved in numerous instances of

unlawful arrests, flogging, violent torture and unlawful killings in recent times, most

especially the criminal acts recorded at checkpoints. One of the instances is the case

of one Ebun Timilehin, a nine (9) year old boy who fell a victim and was unlawfully

killed in Ketu Lagos, on 13th June 2013 by a SARS officer, named Razaq Alowonle,

who attempted to stop a commercial bus driven one commercial driver, for breaking

traffic rules in the area. But an eyewitness, Madam Ranti Ogungbede, interviewed in

Lagos, stated that the police/SARS officer was attempting to extort money from the

commercial bus driver at the checkpoint and triggered his gun when the bus driver

attempted to drive off, the bullet in turn hitting young Ebun Timilehin. Now, whether

the SARS officer has the right to stop citizens at a checkpoint or not; the question to

be asked is, does a police officer has the right to have used such level of force in his
attempt to prevent a traffic violation or extort a civilian? This is taken to be a product

of unprofessionalism (Source: Field Survey, 2019).

In what seemed an inglorious instance for the police, a young man, identified as

Kolade Johnson, was reportedly murdered on Sunday, March 31, 2019 by operatives

of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) who had visited his area in an unmarked

commercial bus to arrest one of the boys of a major music producer who was wearing

dreadlocks. Mr. Kolade Johnson was unlawfully killed. Unsurprisingly, this incident

resulted in protest calls by citizens for disbandment of the Special Anti-Robbery

Squad (SARS) unit of the Nigerian Police. The young man was said to be watching a

football match in a cinema very close to his area at Mangoro, Ikeja, Lagos at that

particular time (Source: Field Survey, 2019).

The public protests on social media gave room for the swift arrest of the police officer

who committed the crime. In response, the police officer suspected to have shot the

man was dismissed from the Nigerian Police, and was made to face criminal charges.

Besides, a respondent, Oluwafifehan Oladare revealed that, on 28th March, 2019, a

motorcyclist, Ademola Moshood, was shot dead by a SARS policeman near his

Surulere residence when he allegedly refused to part with the sum of N200 as bribe.

In the same vein, on March 18, 2019, 18-year-old girl, Hadiyat Sikiru, was killed like

by a stray bullet fired by a police officer in Adamo Community in Ikorodu, Lagos

(Field Survey, 2019).

That unflattering image has been accentuated by the misadventures of the men and
officers of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in recent times. In major cities

like Lagos, Abeokuta and Ibadan, youths are mostly the victims of unwarranted police

brutality and unlawful killings. At least, not less than 18 innocent Nigerians have been

killed by officers of the SARS. In another instance, Police operatives from the Trinity

Police Station, Ajegunle, Lagos, on Saturday, 15 April, 2018, killed a 20-year-old lady

named Miss Ada Ifeanyi; and a young man, Emmanuel Akomafuwa suspected to be

her fiancé was shot too. The marriage ceremony both of them were planning forgot

abruptly ended with the death of two (2) young innocent Nigerians (Source: Field

Survey, 2019).

However, on 28 February, 2018, a trigger-happy officer shot an okada (commercial

motorcycle) rider for not giving out the sum of N100 bribe while on his way to

Challenge area in Ibadan, Oyo State. It was reported that one of the trigger-happy

SARS officers was arrested and charged to court while he got sentenced to

imprisonment by an Oyo State High Court sitting in Ibadan on 13 March, 2018

respectfully. The court convicted and sentenced the officer a three-year jail term

(Omilana, 2019).

Drivers and demands of #EndSARS

An overwhelming majority of those participating in the protest are young Nigerians.

Notably, Nigeria has a rich history of youth protests: Nigeria’s independence

movement even started as a youth protest. The bottled anger of many of the country’s

youth over unfair profiling and harassment by SARS in particular has found an outlet
in this protest, which started with no defined or any central leadership. The protesters’

demands at the beginning were straightforward: The federal government should

abolish SARS, provide justice to victims of police brutality, and reform the police.

Now, the demands have widened, premised on the pervasive failure of the government

to deliver equitable economic prosperity for its citizens and these enraged youths in

particular. In addition to calling for law enforcement agencies to respect the rule of

law, youth are demanding more respect for human rights and a deepening of

democracy. The protesters are also demanding a revival of the educational and health

systems and stronger efforts toward job creation. In short, the message of the

#EndSARS protest is that young Nigerians want to take back their country from the

entrenched political order that they believe has not served their interests. Indeed,

earlier this month, the governor of Lagos State submitted their 7-point agenda to

President Buhari on behalf of the protesters.

What sparked the protests? 

On the morning of October 3, two days after Nigeria celebrated 60 years of

independence, a tweet by Chinyelugo (@AfricaOfficial2) went viral, sounding an

alarm that “SARS just shot a young boy dead.” Hours later,  mobile phone

recordings with the hashtag #EndSARS began trending, documenting the gruesome

scene of the unidentified young man’s lifeless body abandoned on the roadside and

citizens pursuing the officers, who they witnessed steal the man’s Lexus SUV.

Over the following days, many more Nigerians shared their own harrowing SARS
experiences using the hashtag, which actually made its first appearance as a social

media campaign and petition three years earlier, after a viral police murder in

December 2017. This time around, with the mobilizing power of popular influencers

on Twitter, the online protest moved to the streets. Since October 8, protesters in 26 of

Nigeria’s 36 states have organized daily mass demonstrations, vigils, a sit-in of the

National Assembly, and blockades of airports and major roads—until the tragedy on

October 20.

How did the movement grow so effectively?

What sets the 2020 #EndSARS movement apart from previous struggles in Nigeria is

its inclusive, decentralized leadership and organizing approach. In a broader political

system in which women face tremendous barriers to participation, a cadre of young

women has taken the helm of mobilizing #EndSARS online and on the front lines,

while also coordinating a vast network of mutual aid that has resourced protests

across the nation. 

Since the protests started, the Feminist Coalition, coordinated by 14 women, has

crowd funded more than 147 million Naira (nearly $400,000) that was swiftly

redistributed, with unprecedented transparency, to provide protest clusters with food,

water, medical care, security, legal aid, and relief for victims of police brutality and

their families. Still, #EndSARS protesters insist, “We have no leaders,” rejecting the

elevation of any individual or organization as the face of the movement. For now, this

ethic has enabled the movement to sidestep co-optation by the establishment and
hijacking by opportunists, which are pitfalls that undermined struggles like

#OccupyNigeria in 2012