Six years after #EndSARS, police impunity persists

The Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) has accused the Nigerian police of sustaining a tradition of impunity six years after the #EndSARS protests.

The organisation cited persevering with allegations of torture, illegal detention, extortion, extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances.

In a press release on Tuesday, marking the sixth anniversary of the protests, the organisation’s Executive Director, Okechukwu Nwanguma, argued that the disbandment of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and subsequent reform measures had did not essentially change the police practices that triggered the nationwide demonstrations in October 2020.

“The central question six years after #EndSARS is therefore not whether reforms were announced, but whether policing has become more lawful, professional, humane and accountable,” RULAAC wrote. “The available evidence shows that the gap between promise and practice remains dangerously wide.”

RULAAC is a not-for-profit non-governmental human rights advocacy organisation established with a dedication to selling regulation enforcement accountability, clear and accountable policing, and respect for human rights and the rule of regulation.

It performed vital roles earlier than, throughout and after the October 2020 #EndSRAS protest.

The October 2020 #EndSARS protests adopted years of allegations of police brutality, together with torture, extortion, illegal detention and extrajudicial killings.

The demonstrations led to the disbandment of SARS and the institution of judicial panels of inquiry to analyze complaints and advocate cures.

The panels acquired 1000’s of petitions, with some victims awarded compensation and officers advisable for prosecution or disciplinary motion.

‘Implementation of planned reform remains still weak’

RULAAC acknowledged that the panels supplied alternatives for victims and households to testify publicly, and that some victims acquired compensation.

However, it described the implementation of the panels’ suggestions as “fragmented, opaque and inadequate”, significantly concerning legal accountability, institutional reform, rehabilitation and complete redress for victims.

The organisation questioned what number of former SARS personnel had been investigated, disciplined, dismissed or prosecuted, what number of had undergone psychological evaluation and retraining, and the place these redeployed had been posted.

“Redeployment is not accountability, and changing the name of a police unit is not institutional reform,” it maintained.

RULAAC additionally mentioned the Police Act 2020, the Anti-Torture Act 2017, the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 and corresponding state legal guidelines supplied safeguards in opposition to arbitrary arrest, illegal detention, torture and different abuses. But argued that on a regular basis police practices continued to fall in need of these authorized protections.

Among the practices it recognized had been arrests earlier than investigations, police involvement in civil disputes and debt restoration, extended detention with out lawful justification, denial of entry to attorneys and relations, coercive interrogation and calls for for illegal funds as circumstances for bail or launch.

The organisation mentioned these practices mirrored deeper institutional failures involving operational tradition, incentives, supervision, command accountability and accountability.

It argued that the issues uncovered by the #EndSARS protests predated October 2020 and mirrored years of ignored warnings about police misconduct.

Mr Nwanguma recalled that, earlier than establishing RULAAC, he had served as nationwide coordinator of the Network on Police Reform in Nigeria and headed the Police Research Project of the Civil Liberties Organisation. Through these platforms, he mentioned, civil society teams had documented abuses, supported victims, submitted petitions and pursued litigation.

He mentioned successive inspectors-general of police had introduced restrictions and restructuring measures for SARS, however the abuses continued as a result of the directives had been not often adopted by clear investigations, efficient supervision or significant sanctions.

Survivors nonetheless in search of justice

In order to point out that survivors are nonetheless in search of justice six years after, RULAAC cited the case of a girl recognized as Ngozichukwu, who it mentioned was kidnapped, taken to Abuja and severely tortured at a facility related to the Intelligence Response Team previously led by Abba Kyari.

According to the organisation, Ngozichukwu was subjected to additional torture after her switch to Abuja, struggling fractured wrists and deep cuts. RULAAC additionally alleged that she was starved, denied medical remedy and held for a chronic interval in degrading circumstances.

The organisation maintained that she was focused as a result of she contributed a small amount of cash in the direction of medical remedy for individuals injured in the course of the #EndSARS interval within the South-east.

RULAAC mentioned Ngozichukwu subsequently instituted a elementary rights enforcement motion and obtained a judgement in opposition to the police. It alleged that the police had neither complied with the judgment nor paid the compensation awarded to her.

It known as on the Inspector-General of Police and different accountable authorities to make sure speedy compliance with the court docket’s orders.

“A police institution constitutionally charged with enforcing the law cannot place itself above the law,” RULAAC argued, insisting that compliance with court docket judgments was not optionally available.

The organisation mentioned the case illustrated how victims may face additional injustice even after securing beneficial judgments in opposition to the police.

It additionally raised considerations concerning the case of Adaeze Akwaja, who it mentioned had described extreme torture involving personnel related to Tiger Base in Imo State and the previous Abba Kyari crew.

According to RULAAC, Ms Akwaja continues to undergo severe well being issues arising from the alleged abuse. The organisation known as for an unbiased investigation, applicable medical documentation and efficient cures.

“Survivors should not have to become campaigners before the state recognises and protects their rights,” it mentioned.

Coroner’s findings elevate recent questions on Tiger Base

RULAAC additionally known as for the implementation of suggestions arising from a coroner’s inquest into the dying of Japheth Njoku.

A coroner is a judicial officer appointed to analyze the circumstances surrounding a dying, significantly the place the dying is sudden, unexplained or happens in suspicious circumstances.

According to studies of the coroner’s findings, 32-year-old Japheth Njoku died in police custody at Tiger Base, the Imo State Police Command’s Anti-Kidnapping Unit in Owerri, in May 2025.

He had been detained for about six weeks over an alleged theft. The coroner advisable prosecuting two police officers over alleged extortion and corruption and compensating Njoku’s household.

RULAAC mentioned the coroner’s findings, issued late Septrmeber, recognized severe misconduct related with Mr Njoku’s detention at Tiger Base, together with torture, overcrowding, extortion and denial of bail.

It urged the related authorities to implement the suggestions, together with additional investigation, prosecution the place supported by proof and applicable disciplinary motion, whereas respecting due course of.

RULAAC additionally referred to accounts of individuals allegedly arrested and transferred to distant detention services, held incommunicado or denied entry to their households and attorneys. It mentioned some households continued to seek for relations whose whereabouts remained unknown.

Mr Nwanguma famous that “No family should be forced to search indefinitely through police stations, military facilities, detention centres and mortuaries for a relative taken away by state agents,” the organisation declared.

It known as for a central digital custody register, obligatory notification of arrests and transfers, unbiased entry to detention services and efficient investigations into alleged enforced disappearances.

Demands

RULAAC known as on President Bola Tinubu, the Inspector-General of Police, the Police Service Commission, the National Assembly, the National Human Rights Commission, state governments and related prosecutorial authorities to exhibit measurable progress on police reform.

Its calls for embrace full implementation of present legal guidelines, publication of excellent judicial-panel studies, an audit of former SARS personnel and unbiased investigations into allegations of torture, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and deaths in custody.

It additionally known as for stronger civilian oversight, publication of disciplinary outcomes, safety for complainants and witnesses, and efficient enforcement of court docket judgments in opposition to the police.

RULAAC additionally known as for improved police welfare, together with higher remuneration, lodging, operational assets, insurance coverage, retirement advantages and psychological assist.

It maintained, nonetheless, that poor working circumstances couldn’t justify torture, extortion, illegal detention or extrajudicial killing.

“Police officers deserve dignity, fair treatment and decent working conditions. Citizens deserve safety, respect and protection from abuse,” the organisation mentioned. “These objectives are complementary, not contradictory.”

RULAAC mentioned Nigeria wanted constant enforcement of present legal guidelines and demonstrable modifications in how officers exercised their powers, fairly than one other cycle of reform bulletins.

It added that the occasions on the Lekki Toll Gate on 20 October 2020 remained a defining image of the breakdown of belief between residents and the state, with unresolved questions on using power in opposition to protesters and accountability for violations persevering with to solid a shadow over the federal government’s response.

“Nigeria owes victims and their families more than remembrance,” the organisation mentioned. “It owes them truth, justice, effective remedies and guarantees of non-recurrence.”

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RULAAC and #EndSARS

RULAAC is dedicated to policing accountability. It focuses on authorized defence, coverage criticism, and documentation of human rights violations.

It has constantly documented the atrocities dedicated by the now-defunct SARS earlier than the 2020 protests.

RULAAC publicly denounced an try by the Lagos State Police Command to declare a blanket ban on public demonstrations in the course of the peak of the protests in 2023.
The organisation has additionally acted as a main watchdog throughout annual #EndSARS memorials, at together with the Lekki Tollgate, the place safety operatives opened fireplace on peaceable protests on the evening of 20 October 2020.
It continues to demand the total implementation of the studies from the judicial panels of inquiry set as much as look into circumstances of police brutality and advocate compensations and reforms.