In Nigeria in October of 2020, largely peaceful mass protests against police brutality, and specifically targeting the notorious “Special Anti-Robbery Squad” (SARS), were ignited by a video that surfaced online showing a SARS officer allegedly killing a young man. The initial demand was to disband SARS, but quickly expanded to include broader calls for police reform, accountability for past abuses (including extortion, torture, and extrajudicial killings), and an end to systemic corruption within the Nigerian government. 

Though the government initially announced the disbandment of SARS, demonstrators doubted the sincerity of such promises, and continued to protest awaiting concrete actions. On October 20, 2020, security forces opened fire on peaceful protesters in Lagos, resulting in deaths and injuries. Though protests were eventually quelled due to the aftermath of the shooting, government crackdowns, and a nationwide curfew, the movement left a lasting impact on the Nigerian Political Landscape.

The Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African states (ECOWAS) ruled on July 10th, that Nigerian authorities violated the provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACtHPR) in its response to the protests (see press release here). It held that the Nigerian government violated Nigerian citizens “right to life, security of person, freedom of expression, assembly, and association, prohibition of torture, the duty of the state to investigate, and the right to effective remedy.”

Despite the Nigerian government denying these claims, calling the protests unlawful, the court ordered the Nigerian Federal Government to compensate each of the three claimants in the case, as well as ordering the Nigerian authorities to investigate and prosecute the perpetrators of these crimes.