Nigeria: #EndSARS Protests Against Police Brutality

INSIGHTi

Nigeria: #EndSARS Protests Against Police
Brutality
October 27, 2020
Since early October, large youth-led protests against police abuses have shaken cities across Nigeria,
Africa's most populous country. The demonstrations emerged after video circulated on social media
purporting to show an extrajudicial killing by members of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a unit
of the national Nigeria Police Force (NPF) responsible for investigating violent offenses. SARS personnel
previously had been implicated in extensive human rights abuses by what the U.S. State Department
describes as “credible international organizations.”
In response to protesters’ calls to disband SARS—a demand amplified on Twitter and other social media
via the hashtag #EndSARS—President Muhammadu Buhari announced on October 11 that the unit would
be dissolved and its officers retrained and redeployed as part of a new task force. Demonstrations and
social media campaigns have continued, with activists criticizing SARS’s dissolution as insufficient and
calling for additional reforms, including accountability for past abuses and higher police salaries to reduce
incentives for extortion. The government has cracked down on the unrest; since mid-October, security
forces, including military personnel, reportedly have killed dozens of protesters.
The Nigerian government’s response to the #EndSARS protests may shape U.S. policy and assistance
considerations, including with regard to aid focused on professionalizing and building the capacity of
Nigeria’s law enforcement and military. Some Members of Congress have expressed solidarity with the
#EndSARS movement or issued statements of concern over reports of security force abuses against
protesters. Successive Congresses have focused attention on human rights violations by Nigerian security
personnel amid reports of widespread abuses during the Nigerian military’s campaign against Boko
Haram and an Islamic State-affiliated splinter faction, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
As discussed below, U.S. human rights concerns periodically have constrained U.S. security assistance.
#EndSARS Protests and Responses
Protests against police brutality previously have arisen in Nigeria, as advocates and researchers have
documented extensive evidence of human rights abuses by SARS officers and other NPF personnel. In a
2016 report, Amnesty International asserted that SARS officers routinely committed torture and other
abuses against detainees—many of whom were arrested arbitrarily, detained incommunicado, and forced
to “confess” or pay bribes to secure release. The #EndSARS movement began in 2017, as Nigerians
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shared experiences of police brutality via social media and demonstrated in several cities to call for
SARS’s dissolution. In response to those protests, the government pledged an “immediate re-
organization” of SARS and an investigation into allegations against the unit. Reported abuses
nevertheless persisted; in June 2020, Amnesty International concluded that SARS officers continued to
commit extensive human rights violations and that impunity remained pervasive.
The 2020 #EndSARS protests have been noteworthy for their size, duration, and reach. Demonstrations
began in early October and intensified as celebrities worldwide expressed support for the protesters and as
a government crackdown on marchers in mid-October provoked further demonstrations. Many activists
deemed the disbanding of SARS on October 11 as inadequate, comparing it to past reforms that broadly
failed to curb SARS misconduct; some also have called for broader governance improvements. As unrest
has continued, governors in several states have imposed curfews or banned protests.
On October 20, army and police reportedly used live fire to disperse demonstrators in the Lekki and
Alausa areas of Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, killing several and injuring hundreds. Various world
leaders criticized the crackdown; on October 22, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo condemned “the use
of excessive force by military forces who fired on unarmed demonstrators in Lagos,” calling for Nigerian
security services to “show maximum restraint and respect fundamental rights and for demonstrators to
remain peaceful.”
As reports have emerged of violence and looting by some crowds—including attacks on police stations
and prisons, as well as instances of ethnically-targeted violence—Nigerian officials have accused
criminals of coopting the protests and pledged to suppress further unrest. Meanwhile, activists and some
opposition politicians allege that security forces have recruited or permitted armed gangs to disperse
peaceful protesters.
Considerations for Congress
The Buhari administration’s response to the ongoing turmoil may have implications for U.S. policy and
assistance. State Department-administered aid to the NPF has included crime scene training for terrorism
investigations, programs to encourage respect for human rights and support oversight of the NPF, and
training in community policing and “civil disorder management.” U.S. assistance also has sought to
strengthen the NPF’s presence in areas that the government has reclaimed from Boko Haram and ISWAP.
It does not appear that SARS has been a primary recipient of U.S. assistance, but it is possible that SARS
officers have participated in NPF training programs. Members of Congress may consider whether abuses
by NPF officers merit restrictions on U.S. engagement with Nigerian law enforcement—beyond existing
“Leahy Laws” prohibiting certain U.S. assistance to security force units and individuals implicated in
gross human rights violations—or, conversely, whether such reports underscore a need for greater
professionalization.
The Nigerian government’s response to the protests also could have consequences for U.S.-Nigerian
military cooperation. The October 20 crackdown on protesters in Lagos was not the first instance of the
military using lethal force against civilians. In 2015, military personnel reportedly killed nearly 350
members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), a Shia Muslim sect, during a gathering; security
forces have since violently suppressed a series of IMN protests, killing dozens. More broadly, observers
have accused Nigeria’s military of executing hundreds of civilians, arbitrarily detaining thousands more,
and committing widespread torture during counterterrorism operations. Impunity for such abuses remains
endemic: according to the State Department’s 2019 human rights report, “no charges were filed in some
of the significant allegations of human rights violations by security forces.” U.S. officials have barred
some Nigerian security personnel from receiving U.S. assistance under the Leahy Laws; human rights
concerns also have impeded the transfer of some U.S.-manufactured defense articles to Nigeria. For detail
on Nigeria and U.S. engagement, see CRS Report RL33964, Nigeria: Current Issues and U.S. Policy.

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Author Information

Tomas F. Husted

Analyst in African Affairs






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