Conventions, standards, and treaties are supposed to serve as a guide for the actions of the police as
an institution both nationally and internationally (Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and International Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights, 1966). Torture has reportedly been employed often in police detention facilities
across Nigeria, in spite of state laws outlawing it and prohibiting police misconduct in detention,
which is a key contributing factor to fatalities in prison. According to the Network on Police Reform
in Nigeria, members of the Nigerian Police regularly carry out summary executions of people who
are accused or suspected of committing crimes; they also frequently use torture as a primary
investigative tool; they commit both sexes-on-sex rape; and they practice extortion at every
opportunity.
According to Article 5 of the Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials approved by the United
Nations General Assembly in resolution 34/169 of December 17, 1979, violent treatment of suspects
by police or other law enforcement officials is highly prohibited:
“No law enforcement official may inflict, instigate or tolerate any act of torture or other cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, nor may any law enforcement official invoke
superior orders or exceptional circumstances such as a state of war or a threat of war, a threat to
national security, internal political instability or any other public emergency as a justification of
torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”
Legal professionals, human rights advocates, social scientists, and journalists routinely receive
reports of police brutality and rights abuse, including demands for bribes, theft, and money
extortion. However, there haven't been many empirical studies done on this to provide a detailed
account of the level of brutality and abuse that people experience when they are held or arrested by
the police. It might be because conducting this kind of research will be challenging because it may be
difficult to get data from the police department because they won't want to give such sensitive
information.
"The systematic brutality of the police impacts nearly every Nigerian, but at varying levels, as the
burden weighs down heavier on the poor," wrote Richard and Abolaji in their conclusion. The Nigeria
Police Force's operations seldom even remotely resemble what is required under Nigerian law. The
NPF's activities clearly conflict with preserving human life, safety, and security because they put the
individuals they are supposed to be safeguarding in danger. It is obvious that the Police's reliance on
confessions obtained through torture stems from their inability to carry out legitimate criminal
investigations. due to the vast number of police stations in the nation and the way in which their
respective police divisions' authority and responsibilities have developed.
Therefore, immediate action is needed to put Nigerian policing back on the right track toward
legitimacy, respectability, and public trust. Currently, the cops are not held accountable for whatever
crimes they may have committed. Since the NPF is governed at the federal level, local people are not
held responsible for the actions of its officers. Intelligent legislation on the laws governing detention
for investigative purposes is the greatest way to address this problem of wrongful arrest and
detention. The deployment of advanced forensic techniques for investigations, an improvement in
the police's capacity to carry out their investigative duties, encouragement of professionalism
among its rank and file, and effective punishment of incompetent officers as a deterrent to others
are additional suggestions.
