Bayyanar Mahadi, a Nigerian activist, has detailed how 24 young men were being detained in inhumane conditions after becoming victims of extortion and corruption by the Nigeria Police Force.
Mahadi’s account in a 30-minute video details how the unemployed men, who were trying to join the police force, were shaken down by named police officers for 700,000 naira each ($1,480), but ended up in detention instead of becoming police officers.
Many Nigerians have become immune to the depravity of the police, but what these young men are going through is still shocking. A Nigerian journalist based in Toronto, Canada was so appalled by the video he wrote: “I know it is nothing new, and has been going on for decades, but perhaps there is a chance that awareness of this sort of thing can begin something. I am forwarding to all the Nigerians I know”.
This sort of police brutality and extortion sparked the #EndSARS protests across the country in October against the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Nigeria Police Force. It is clear from Mahadi’s video that the rot goes deeper than just one police unit.
