Police predation and violence in urban Nigeria: The Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS)

Abstract

ABSTRACT Police are omnipresent in Nigerian cities. The existence and actions of the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) in cities such as Lagos, Ibadan, and Abuja are intended like elsewhere in the urban world to deter, reduce, and solve crime. This is true of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the NPF, created to combat armed robberies, car-snatchings, kidnappings, and cattle rustling. Its methods of seeking greater public security, however, raises questions about the fairness and efficacy of urban policing in Nigeria. Its reported police predation and violence during its stops, searches, detentions, and custody of urban denizens exacerbate socio-spatial injustices in Nigerian cities. We draw on the concept of the right to the city and qualitative data, including key informant interviews with Nigerian police, lawyers, and common city residents, including self-identified victims of SARS brutality, to describe how SARS helps us understand the context and characteristics of urban policing in Nigeria.