Democratic Socialist Movement

For Struggle, Solidarity and Socialism in Nigeria

By - DSM

AJEGUNLE UNDER SIEGE OF POLICE BRUTALITY

  • A Democratic Community Response is Needed

By Moshood Oshunfunrewa, Coordinator, Ajegunle People’s Movement

The residents of Ajegunle in Ajeromi Ifelodun local government, Lagos, continue to suffer gross violation of their rights at the hands of the Nigerian Police Force – now operating under a new name, ‘Tactical Squad’. While the government declared the disbandment of the notorious SARS unit in 2020, the reality is that the same tactics, faces, and brutality have simply been rebranded and resurfaced in our communities. In Ajegunle, these raids have become a regular terror, targeting the poorest and most vulnerable citizens without cause or accountability.

Young people returning from low-paid, casual labour in Apapa ports, Lagos Island markets, or Oshodi and Trade fair zones are now routine victims of the Tactical Squad’s harassment, extortion and illegal raid. Many of these youths hustle daily, earning barely enough to feed their families. Instead of receiving protection, they are hunted down, profiled based on appearance, and bundled into police vans during sweeping, indiscriminate raids. These operations are carried out with impunity, often under the direct watch of the Lagos State Police Command, making it clear that this is not an operation of rogue elements but institutionalized brutal practices.

Extortion is the end game for most police activities, be it traffic enforcement, criminal investigation, complaints handling and crime fighting. In Ajegunle victims and their families are forced to pay between N50,000 and N250,000 for their release depending on the charge and allegation -a brutal ransom system that preys on the victims’ desperation for freedom. Those who cannot pay are left to rot in overcrowded cells for weeks, in direct violation of the Lagos State Criminal Law, which mandates that suspects be charged or released within 48 hours.

In most cases when a real criminal is caught in the act, they are left off the hook after buying freedom through huge bribes. Therefore, with money, a criminal can move around freely but without money, an innocent person will languish in police cell or prison and suffer in the hands of the Nigerian justice system.

The physical consequences of police raids are devastating. Many residents suffer broken limbs, severe internal injuries, or are permanently disabled while trying to escape the chaos of these unlawful operations. Some lose their means of livelihood—barbershops are ransacked, traders’ goods are destroyed, or transport workers are injured and unable to return to work. The raids often occur without warning, in the dead of night or early morning, instilling a permanent sense of fear in communities that are already struggling to survive.

COORDINATED COMMUNITY RESPONSE NEEDED

Communities across Ajegunle—Tolu, Alayabiagba, Aiyetoro, Okorogbo, Amukoko, Mosafejo, and others—cannot continue to endure this organized state violence in silence. It is time for these communities to come together and organize a united, mass-based campaigns and resistance to these violations. Collective action is the only effective response to state-backed oppression.

This mass-based campaign against police brutality must also defend the right of police officers to earn improved salary and better working conditions. There is also the need for the rank and file police officers to exercise the right to belong to a union to enable them have the democratic platform to agitate and struggle for better working conditions.

Community resistance must take shape beyond reactive protests—it must be organized, sustained, and rooted in the grassroots. Community defense committees which should be multi-ethnic, non-sectarian and democratically controlled by the people themselves should be built to resist police brutality. The committees should push for accountability and democratic control over policing and security in communities.