THE VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN NIGERIA BY THE NIGERIA POLICE FORCE

One of the foundations and fundamentals of every democratic society today is the entrenchment of fundamental human rights in its constitution and the protection of those rights. In fact, without such provision and protection, a state cannot be said to be truly democratic. Human rights in Nigeria are protected under the current constitution of 1999 Though it is frequently not given appropriate attention in its defense and application. Countless ordinary Nigerians attempting to make ends meet as taxi drivers, market traders, and shopkeepers are accosted on a daily basis by armed police officers who demand bribes and commit human rights abuses against them as a means of extorting money.1 Those who fail to pay are frequently threatened with arrest and physical harm. Far too often, these threats are carried out. Meanwhile, victims of crime are obliged to pay the police from the moment they enter a police station to file a complaint until the day their case is brought before a court. In the shadows, high-level police officials embezzle staggering sums of public funds meant to address some basic police operations. Senior police officers also enforce a perverse system of “returns” in which rank-and-file Officers are compelled to pay up the chain of command a share of the money they extort from the public.