“Reckless brutality to womankind”: police violence against black women in Colonial Nigeria

Abstract

ABSTRACT In 2020, ignited by rising levels of police brutality towards youth in Nigeria, the #ENDSARS movement erupted in Nigeria. Protestors rallied against the nation’s Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), calling for its disbandment after people became fed up with the brutality it unleashed on innocent citizens. However, the issues raised by the #ENDSARS movement are not new, and the movement is reminiscent of decades of organizing against Nigerian police forces. Drawing on archival data, this paper investigates the nature of police violence against Black women in Nigeria under colonialism between 1925 and 1930. This article examines two separate instances of Black women’s organizing in southeastern Nigeria against market tolls that particularly affected women. In both instances, their cries were met with brutal force from the police which prompted new rounds of activism from the women. Findings reveal that police violence against Black women was gendered, racialized, and capitalist. In turn, this paper seeks to uncover what the Movement for Black Lives has termed the ‘vestiges of colonialism’ in the system of policing in Nigeria.