By Felix Onuah
ABUJA (Reuters) – Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari promised on Monday that the government would bring police officers responsible for misconduct to justice, after nearly a week of protests against police brutality that were met by a harsh response.
At least one person has been killed since the demonstrations began. Police have opened fire with guns at marchers, as well as using water canons and tear gas to disperse them. More than a thousand demonstrators returned to streets around Nigeria on Monday.
On Sunday, authorities announced they were disbanding the Special Anti-Robbery Squad police unit, known as SARS, the target of demonstrators who accuse it of beating up and killing Nigerians and extorting from them.
Rights groups and protesters said they were unconvinced by the promise to disband the SARS force, saying the authorities had pledged to dissolve or reform the unit in the past with little change.
In a statement on Monday, Buhari promised “extensive police reforms”, acknowledging “genuine concerns and agitations by Nigerians about the excessive use of force and in some cases extra-judicial killings and wrongful conduct of the men of the Nigerian Police Force.”
But he also described police misconduct as relegated to a “few bad eggs”.
(Reporting by Felix Onuah; Writing by Paul Carsten; Editing by Peter Graff)
