AMAMIHE Journal of Applied Philosophy

Human rights violations are prevalent in Nigeria. Such human rights abuses include torture, kidnappings, rape, extra-judicial killings, and other dehumanizing treatments. This study explores the human right abuse by Nigerian police Force. This paper makes use of both primary and secondary sources. Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) constitute the primary sources, while information from books, journals, Newspapers and the internet constitutes the secondary sources. The paper uses descriptive analysis to drive home its point that it is long overdue for the Nigerian state to curb human rights abuses. Findings show that in Nigeria, the police, especially the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) unit, has been involved in degrading treatment of citizens, particularly the youths. This led to the #EndSARS protest of October 2020. This paper highlights that the demands made by #EndSARS protesters resonated with the everyday experience of ordinary Nigerians at the hands of the police. Additional findings also show that beyond the call for the reformation of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), which has not been adequately achieved till now, the need for socio-economic transformation and good governance in the country remains an uncompromising priority. The paper argues that any sane civic space accommodates protest and sees it as an opportunity to footnote and address the concerns of the masses. Thus, the paper views the attack on protesters as outlandish. To this effect, the paper argues that when impunity adorns itself as the rule of law and human rights become a mockery of unimaginable dimension, then we can be assured that perpetrators of torture as well as killings will go unpunished.

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