Criminal Force? Torture, Abuse and Extrajudicial Killings by Police in Nigeria

In an effort to ensure policy and operational response to police abuses in Nigeria, the Network on Police Reform in Nigeria (NOPRIN), supported by MacArthur Foundation, deployed field researchers who undertook nationwide action research on the prevalence of police abuses in Nigeria. The research was aimed at breaking the cycle of silence and impunity around police abuses in Nigeria and to inform multi-level advocacy.

The Objectives of the research includes:

• ground law enforcement policy and police reform in the reality of police experience in Nigeria;
• document the patterns and prevalence of police abuses of human rights in Nigeria;
• inform the design of appropriate policy responses to public safety and security needs;
• build an informed constituency for effective and accountable policing in Nigeria;
• enables victims of police abuse seek and secure redress through the use of mechanisms of internal control and external oversight applicable to the police.

The Independent field monitoring and investigation of the practices of the Nigeria police took place in fourteen (14) states of the Federation over a period of nine (9) months in 2007. States were selected on the basis of a representative sample of two states from each of Nigeria’s six (6) geopolitical zones , with Enugu and Sokoto states randomly added. Primary and secondary sources were reviewed.

The report findings show that the conduct and operations of the Nigeria Police mostly bear no resemblance to the requirements of Nigeria Laws. Far from protecting human life, safety and security, the Nigeria Police Force increasingly endangers them and that some urgent attention needs to be given to salvage the situation.

Finally, the report recommends urgent measures to the President, the Federal and State Governments, the Police , the Legislatures, Judiciary, Police Service Commission, the National Human Rights Commission and Nigeria’s International partners.

The outcome of the research led to the publication of “Criminal Force? Torture, Abuse and Extrajudicial Killings by Police in Nigeria”.