Published 7th Jun, 2022

Police brutality, extortion and harassment appear to continue in Abuja despite the #EndSARS protest of 2020.

While there is an ongoing #EndSARS panel probe, reports online show that the police still subject Nigerians in Abuja to inhumane treatment.

In December 2021, Solomon Buchi, a renowned relationship coach, detailed how Abuja police officers assaulted him and extorted N550,000 from him and his younger brother at gunpoint. They claimed he was a member of a separatist group during the incident. This was after they had assaulted him and his brother.

In April 2022, a Facebook user said the police in Abuja shielded her assailant to pervert the course of justice. According to her, the police claimed to have locked up her assailant in a cell, but they never did. Instead, he was left to roam freely.

In February, Emotan Shine, the CEO of Emotan Global Ventures Ltd., asked Usman Alkali Baba, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), to stop what she said was an illegal raid and arrest of her staff in Abuja every day.

She said masked policemen had continued to invade her office, harassing staff at will, with no justifiable reason.

While the police keep harassing Nigerians in Abuja, they have refused to honour several summons by the FCT #EndSARS panel at different times. For instance, police officers expected at the last panel sitting on March 3 were not present.

This report was produced through the ‘You Matter in this Matter’ Project being implemented by YouthHubAfrica, Onelife Initiative, Cedar Seed Foundation and FIJ, with support from Voice Nigeria.

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