ABSTRACT

This study assessed police brutality and the EndSARS protests in Nigeria. Qualitative research methodology was adopted. The study was theoretically anchored on Failed State Theory and Social Conflict Theory. The Failed State model proposes that a failed state is a political body that has disintegrated to a point where basic conditions and responsibilities of a sovereign government no longer function properly. On the other hand, Social Conflict Theory is concerned with group conflict between different groups of people, in this case, the police and the citizens as opposed to conflict between individuals. Among other things the key findings of the study revealed that (i) police brutality and unlawful killings, poverty and unemployment were found to be major reasons behind the EndSARS protests in Nigeria, (b) the EndSARS protest was found to have a double sided effect on national security in Nigeria; one, it serves as a call to reform the police force and other security details in the country, two, it has heightened the level of insecurity in the country, (c) the EndSARS protest was also found to be contributing to some economic woes in Nigeria. To this end, the study recommended that government as a matter of urgency should reform the entire Nigerian police force and fetch out the bad eggs among them. So that the institution will regain its confidence from the public in general and Nigerian youths in particular, in order to avoid future occurrences of EndSARS or any youth unrest in the country.