The Nigerian police force is facing mounting criticism and public anger over its handling of various incidents, including extrajudicial killings and extortion. A recent case in Port Harcourt saw angry youths block a road to protest the killing of Anthony Obodo, a 22-year-old University of Port Harcourt graduate murdered by a police officer. The protesters' anger was fueled by the police's perceived mishandling of the situation, with the Rivers State police commissioner warning that the protest could be "hijacked by hoodlums."
This incident is not an isolated case, as the Nigerian police have a history of being involved in controversies. In 2020, the #EndSARS protests erupted after a video surfaced showing police officers with the SARS unit killing a young man in Delta State. The case of ASP Usman Nuhu, the police officer filmed killing musician Oghenemine Ogidi in Delta State, is a textbook illustration of why young Nigerians have lost faith in the police. Nuhu and four other officers were arraigned on June 30, but there has been no public update on the status of the trial.
The lack of accountability and transparency in the handling of such cases has contributed to the public's perception that the police are not protectors but predators with badges. When the state cannot or will not hold its own killers accountable, the message to young people is unmistakable: your life does not matter, and the law will not protect you. This has led to a growing frustration with police misconduct, with citizens finding creative ways to resist, including using technology to expose and humiliate officers.
A recent incident in Osogbo, where a passerby used a drone to scare off police officers caught on camera extorting motorists, reflects this growing frustration. The use of a drone to shame police officers is a new form of resistance, as citizens no longer even bother to petition or protest, but simply expose and humiliate. Extortion has been a persistent problem, but not much has been done about it, except when it goes viral internationally.
The situation is further complicated by the current economic hardship in Nigeria, with the cost-of-living crisis and protests over economic hardship turning deadly. The police have arrested nearly 700 people over the last year, but they always deny attacking peaceful demonstrators. The fuel subsidy removal and currency devaluation have pushed food prices out of reach for millions, with the Jollof Index, a measure of the cost of a staple meal, rising by over 600 percent since 2016.
In this environment, the police are not protectors, but the face of a state that has failed to provide security, economic opportunity, or justice. Every extrajudicial killing, every extortion, every drone video that goes viral, chips away at the legitimacy of the police force. The public's perception of the police as both predatory and weak is a contradiction that is explosive and could lead to further instability.
The Nigerian government needs to address the systemic issues that have led to this situation, including police brutality, extortion, and lack of accountability. Until then, young Nigerians will keep taking the law into their own hands, because the law has shown them nothing else. The greater danger is that this anger is about to collide with something far more combustible: hunger, and the result is not stability, but a powder keg waiting to explode.
Key points
- The Nigerian police force is facing mounting criticism and public anger over its handling of various incidents.
- The lack of accountability and transparency in the handling of extrajudicial killings and extortion has contributed to the public's perception that the police are not protectors but predators with badges.
- The current economic hardship in Nigeria has further complicated the situation, with the cost-of-living crisis and protests over economic hardship turning deadly.
