EndSARS At Six: Has Anything Changed?

Six years after 1000’s of Nigerians took to the streets demanding an finish to police brutality, allegations of torture, extortion, illegal arrests and extrajudicial killings proceed to check the promise of reform within the Nigeria Police Force.

The #EndSARS protests of October 2020 had been pushed by years of complaints in opposition to the now-disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), whose operatives had been accused of arbitrary arrests, torture, extortion and killings. What started as a requirement to disband the unit grew right into a nationwide motion for police accountability, respect for human rights and basic modifications in regulation enforcement.

The Federal Government subsequently disbanded SARS and launched measures meant to enhance policing, together with the Police Act 2020, new complaint-handling mechanisms and additional coaching for officers.

Yet, as Nigeria marks six years because the protests, incidents documented throughout the nation proceed to boost questions on whether or not the reforms have basically modified how some cops train their powers.

Recent instances in Imo, Delta and Cross River states, alongside allegations of extreme power throughout demonstrations, have renewed issues about accountability and the safety of residents in police custody.

For victims and rights advocates, the central query is now not whether or not the authorities have introduced reforms, however whether or not Nigerians can see their results after they encounter the police.

Police and the gun

On July 3, 2021, 25-year-old Jumoke Oyeleke, a saleswoman, was killed throughout a Yoruba nation rally in Ojota, Lagos State. According to Amnesty International, Oyeleke was displaying her drinks when she was struck by a bullet allegedly fired by a police officer.

Her dying occurred lower than a 12 months after the EndSARS protests, renewing issues about the usage of deadly power by safety operatives throughout public gatherings.MThe incident turned one of many instances cited by Amnesty International in its documentation of alleged extrajudicial killings after the 2020 protests.

Also, Gafaru Buraimoh, a resident of Happy Land Estate in Ajah, Lagos State, was shot useless in December 2022 throughout an incident involving cops.

Reports stated Buraimoh was hit by a bullet throughout a police operation within the space. His dying sparked public outrage, notably as a result of it occurred lower than three weeks earlier than one other deadly taking pictures involving a police officer in the identical a part of Lagos.

Even Omobolanle Raheem, a pregnant lawyer, was not spared. She was shot useless by a police officer within the Ajah space of Lagos State on December 25, 2022.

Raheem was coming back from church with members of her household when the deadly taking pictures occurred close to the Ajah Bridge.

The officer accountable, Drambi Vandi, was subsequently prosecuted for homicide. In October 2023, a Lagos High Court sentenced him to dying after discovering him responsible of killing the lawyer.

On April 5, 2023, was the top of Onyeka Ibe. The man was shot useless in Delta State in an incident that Amnesty International linked to an alleged demand for a N100 bribe by cops conducting a stop-and-search operation.

According to the human rights organisation, Ibe was killed after allegedly refusing to pay the cash.

Seventeen-year-old Abdullahi Tukur Abba died in hospital in Yola, Adamawa State, on August 5, 2023, after allegedly being tortured in police custody.

Amnesty International recognized his case in its evaluation of police abuses in Nigeria following the EndSARS protests. His dying raised issues concerning the therapy of suspects in detention, notably younger folks, and the necessity for unbiased investigations into allegations of torture by regulation enforcement officers.

Other unhappy instances

In February 2026, Amnesty International, in a printed an investigation report on the actions of Tiger Base, an anti-kidnapping unit of the Imo State Police Command in Owerri, alleged that the unit was concerned in extrajudicial killings, torture, extended arbitrary detention, extortion and enforced disappearances.

The report, sighted by LEADERSHIP additionally described allegations that detainees had been held in overcrowded and unsanitary cells, whereas some suspects had been allegedly tortured to extract confessions.

Amnesty International additional alleged that arrests had been typically used to settle private disputes or extract cash from detainees and their households.

The allegations raised issues concerning the therapy of suspects in police custody and the effectiveness of safeguards meant to forestall abuse.

In Delta State, one other deadly incident introduced the query of police use of power into sharp focus. On April 26, 2026, a police officer fatally shot Mene Ogidi in Effurun. Following an inside disciplinary course of, the Nigeria Police Force introduced that it had beneficial the dismissal of the principal officer, Assistant Superintendent of Police Nuhu Usman, and different officers discovered culpable.

In an April 28 assertion, the Force stated the disciplinary findings established that the principal officer had acted in gross violation of Force Order 237 and different laws governing the usage of firearms. The Inspector-General of Police permitted the suggestions and forwarded them to the Police Service Commission for ratification, after which the affected officers had been to be handed over for prosecution.

The police described the incident as illegal and unprofessional, reiterating that no officer had the precise to take a life exterior the provisions of the regulation.

The announcement demonstrated that the Force might provoke disciplinary motion in response to a deadly taking pictures. However, the case additionally raised questions on how officers are educated to deal with encounters involving civilians and whether or not disciplinary measures are persistently adopted by legal prosecution the place warranted.

In Cross River State, a Federal High Court in Calabar awarded N100 million in damages in opposition to the police and different respondents over the torture and killing of 22-year-old Onyekachi Mba.

Mba was reportedly crushed and shot by police safety personnel on the Government House in Calabar on August 1, 2025, after he insisted on seeing the governor to ship what he described as a message from God. He later died from accidents sustained through the incident.

The judgment, reported in July 2026, supplied a judicial response to the household’s case and strengthened questions on the usage of power by officers assigned to guard public officers.

Together, the incidents in Imo, Delta and Cross River illustrate the vary of allegations and judicial findings that proceed to form the talk over police conduct, from the therapy of suspects in custody to the usage of deadly power.

What has modified since 2020?

The police reform course of has not stood nonetheless.

The Police Act 2020 changed the Police Act of 1943 and established ideas of accountability, transparency, professionalism, respect for human rights and partnership with communities.

The regulation additionally gives for Police Complaints Response Units at Force Headquarters and throughout state instructions and the Federal Capital Territory. The models are meant to obtain and course of complaints involving police misconduct, together with extortion, harassment and human rights violations.

In April 2026, the Federal Ministry of Police Affairs introduced the launch and handover of the Nigeria Police Regulations (Amendment) 2026. The ministry stated the laws had been designed to strengthen accountability, disciplinary procedures, coaching, recruitment {and professional} requirements.

The Nigeria Police Force has additionally stated it’s introducing a revised coaching curriculum to switch the mannequin used over the earlier 28 years.

In July 2026, Force Public Relations Officer Anietie Edem stated the police had been strengthening the Complaints Response Unit to enhance transparency, cut back response occasions and make it simpler to trace complaints in opposition to officers.

Edem described the unit because the Force’s principal accountability mechanism and stated it acquired complaints about skilled misconduct, extortion, harassment and human rights violations.

These initiatives point out that the authorities have launched new guidelines and mechanisms meant to handle misconduct. However, the existence of a regulation, criticism platform or coaching programme doesn’t, by itself, set up that abuses have declined.

Determining whether or not police brutality has lowered would require comparable knowledge on complaints, investigations, disciplinary actions, prosecutions and court docket judgments over a number of years. Such proof would assist set up whether or not the reforms have produced measurable enhancements in residents’ experiences.

Other specialists’ view

For some authorized practitioners, the central drawback is the hole between reform insurance policies and the each day conduct of officers.

Nathaniel Ngwu, convener of the Criminal Justice Network of Nigeria, stated illegal arrests, torture, extortion and extreme power remained issues six years after the #EndSARS protests.

In feedback revealed by The Guardian on October 20, 2026, Ngwu argued that reforms had not been adequately built-in into police operations.

“From the look of things, the reforms have not been integrated into the system and operations. It is only written on paper,” he stated.

Ngwu attributed the issue partly to insufficient funding, poor coaching, corruption and weak accountability. He stated some police stations lacked fundamental operational assets, leaving complainants anticipated to supply cash to facilitate investigations and arrests.

He argued that such practices undermined the independence of investigations and created alternatives for extortion.

The lawyer additionally referred to as for normal human rights coaching for officers who work together immediately with the general public, notably investigators and personnel chargeable for acquiring statements from suspects.

Chris Okeke, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and managing associate at Chris Okeke & Co., additionally recognized weaknesses within the enforcement of current legal guidelines and entry to justice.

Okeke stated poverty and restricted public consciousness of authorized rights might stop victims from pursuing cures for police misconduct. He additionally raised issues concerning the enforcement of court docket orders in opposition to police authorities.

He referred to as for nearer scrutiny of police recruitment and larger consideration to officers’ temperament, background {and professional} suitability.

Chuks Nwobi, principal associate at Tower of David Solicitors & Advocates, equally referred to as for a shift from what he described as a colonial policing mentality in the direction of a service-oriented method.

“We must move away from a force mentality to a service mentality,” Nwobi stated.

He argued that legal guidelines in opposition to illegal arrest, torture and extortion would have restricted impact with out investigations and applicable sanctions in opposition to officers discovered chargeable for misconduct.