COVID-19 pandemic: Security agencies and extrajudicial killings amid enforcement of government lockdown order in Nigeria

Abstract

Nigeria’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has produced mixed reactions. While governments at all levels are making commendable efforts in the fight against the dreaded disease, measures put in place to aid the fight, have resulted in extreme human rights abuses. Specifically, the incidents of extrajudicial killings arising from the activities of the personnel of security agencies deployed to enforce the government lockdown directive, has become increasingly alarming. Using the documentary methods of data collections and analysis, the paper therefore analyzes the major cases of unlawful murders of the citizens by officials of Nigeria’s security forces throughout the period of the nationwide lockdown instituted by the government to contain the spread of the disease within the country. It finds that the illegal killings of the citizens by the security agencies that are meant to protect undeniably defeats the primary essence of state security. The paper thus contends that the trend holds unprecedented consequences for the Nigerian state and its security institutions in relation to the country’s human rights image at national, regional and global levels. In light of this, the study recommends workable measures or actions that should be taken to checkmate the trend now and in future times.