Accounts of Unlawful Use of Force and Misconduct of the Nigerian Police in the Enforcement of COVID-19 Measures

Abstract

In response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the Nigeria police was entrusted with the responsibility of coordinating local shutdowns, encouraging social distancing, enforcing stay-at-home mandates, and supervising compulsory wearing of face masks. Drawing from procedural justice theory, this study explored accounts of unlawful use of force, human rights violations, and other police misconducts that resulted from the enforcement of COVID-19 measures. Using a victim-centred approach involving qualitative, in-depth interviews with 71 people, who perceived their encounters with the police enforcing COVID-19 measures as bordering on their rights, were conducted, and a thematic analysis of the narratives carried out. Participants reported significant variety of police aggression directed towards them: including actual threats of physical violence, hostility, intimidation, extortion, and punishment. Female participants reported incidents of sexual harassment, unwanted sexual advances, and assault. The study concludes that the militarized option adopted by the police to enforce COVID-19 measures drew deeper divides between the police and communities than previously existed. This stresses the need for Nigeria police to train officers, reprimand erring officers, and deploy procedural justice principles in enforcing COVID-19 measures.