International Journal for Management and Modern Education Vol 1 No 1 (2020) 14–27

International Journal for Management and Modern Education

Journal home page: http://www.ijmme.com

Impact of Social Media on Police Brutality Awarness in Nigeria

Afeez A. Soladoye 1, Adeolu O. Ojo 2

1
Department of Computer Engineering, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Nigeria
2
Information and Communication Technology Centre, Mountain Top University, Ibafo, Ogun State, Nigeria

Corresponding Author: bayonle992@gmail.com

Original article

ABSTRACT

With the success and the user base of Social Networking Sites as tools for digital communication and exchange of
information and its advancement in industrialization, science, technology, and various environmental issues taking
place locally and globally, this social media can be utilized as a tool to promote awareness regarding various current
environmental issues in a much faster way and to a large mass within a very short span of time, this study aims to
investigate how Nigerians use social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Whatsapp as a platform
to reach out to the world and Nigeria government to create awareness on police brutality in Nigeria which started with
their request to End SARS( Special Anti-robbery Squad ) department. Primary Data were collected from people with
Google form to know the level of their involvement in the campaign and their view on what impact did social media
had on creating the awareness. The findings indicate that the integral factor that helped in notifying the general public
and pushed the government into taking fast action on the matter was social media, from where we know that it was the
involvement of social media in the campaign that made the awareness to spread at the speed of light, and made the
Nigerian Police to take responsibility of their actions, which might not have been so, if it's through traditional means.
This study differs from past research as it focus on the involvement of the people and the role social media platform(s)
played in creating the awareness.
Keywords: Brutality, Social media, Awareness, End SARS, Nigeria Police

1. Introduction

Police brutality or excessive use of force by law enforcement can be legally defined as a civil rights violation,
where law enforcement officers exercise due force against a subject. Use of torture as interrogative technique and other
wanton abuses of human rights remain some of the major flaws of the Nigeria Police Force which has attracted public
odium, opprobrium, and condemnation to the Force [1][16]. Torture, described as one of the most extreme forms of
violence, resulting to both psychological and physical consequences is sometimes considered as an indispensable
interrogation mechanism for gathering strategic intelligence [2]. Worried by the incessant reports of human rights abuse
of the members of the Police Force, the Former Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, once warned the Special
Anti-Robbery Squad operatives against torture and extrajudicial killings, saying “no policeman in the world had the
right or authority to kill crime suspects” [3]. He admonished the SARS personnel to always respect the right of every
Nigerian, noting that this was the way they could change the negative public perception about them. Protests against
police brutality previously have arisen in Nigeria, as advocates and researchers have documented extensive evidence of
human rights abuses by SARS officers and other NPF personnel. In a 2016 report, Amnesty International asserted that
SARS officers routinely committed torture and other abuses against detainees—many of whom were arrested
arbitrarily, detained incommunicado, and forced to “confess” or pay bribes to secure release [1][16]. The #EndSARS
movement began in 2017, as Nigerians shared experiences of police brutality via social media and demonstrated in
several cities to call for SARS’s dissolution. In response to those protests, the government pledged an “immediate
reorganization” of SARS and an investigation into allegations against the unit. Reported abuses nevertheless persisted;

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in June 2020, Amnesty International concluded that SARS officers continued to commit extensive human rights
violations and that impunity remained pervasive. The 2020 #EndSARS protests have been noteworthy for their size,
duration, and reach. Demonstrations began in early October and intensified as celebrities all over the world expressed
support for the protesters and as a government crackdown on marchers in mid-October provoked further
demonstrations. Many activists deemed the disbanding of SARS on October 11 as inadequate, comparing it to past
reforms that broadly failed to curb SARS misconduct, some also have called for broader governance improvements. As
unrest has continued, Governors in several states have imposed curfews or banned protests. On October 20, army and
police reportedly used live fire to disperse demonstrators in the Lekki and Alausa areas of Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial
capital, killing several and injuring hundreds. Various world leaders criticized the crackdown; on October 22, Secretary
of State Michael Pompeo condemned “the use of excessive force by military forces who fired on unarmed
demonstrators in Lagos” calling for Nigerian security services to “show maximum restraint and respect fundamental
rights and for demonstrators to remain peaceful [4]. International bodies and personalities tend to hear of this brutality in
real time, because the awareness was created through social media which might have taken longer time for them to get
to know of the occurrence if the awareness is to be created through traditional news media, as most of these
international bodies might not watch our local news media.

2. Literature Review
2.1 Social Media and Situational Awareness
The term “social media” refers to Internet-based applications that enable people to communicate and share
resources and information. Some examples of social media include blogs, discussion forums, chat rooms, wikis,
YouTube Channels, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Social media can be accessed by computer, smart and cellular
phones, the use of social media is an evolving phenomenon. During the past decade, rapid changes in communication as
a result of new technologies have enabled people to interact and share information through media that were non-existent
or widely unavailable as recently as 24 years ago.[5][6]
Social media have been used to disseminate a wide range of public safety information before, during, and after
various incidents. Prior to an incident (or in the absence of an incident), many emergency management organizations
provide citizens with preparedness and readiness information through social media. Social media are also used for
community outreach and customer service purposes by soliciting feedback on public safety-related topics [6]. Social
media also play an informational role during emergency situations. For instance, in 2009 the U.S. Army used its Twitter
account to provide news and updates during the Fort Hood shootings; the American Red Cross similarly uses Facebook
to issue alerts of potential disasters. However, the main source of information disseminated and sought after is generally
posted by citizens, rather than emergency management agencies or organizations. For example, warning messages via
the Internet during the Virginia Tech shooting in April 2007 came primarily from students and unofficial sources, and
during the 2007 Southern California Wildfires, citizens sought information through social media because they felt
media sources were too general or inaccurate[7][6].
In recent years, social media has emerged as a popular medium for providing new sources of information and
rapid communications, particularly during natural disasters. Twitter is one such service that allows users to broadcast
short textual messages, or tweets, of up to 140 characters to an audience of followers using Web- or mobile- based
platforms. An important characteristic of Twitter is its real-time nature Users frequently post what they are doing and
thinking about and repeatedly return to the site to see what other people are doing. This generates numerous user
updates from which we can find useful information related to real-world events including natural disasters such as
earthquakes, bushfires, and cyclones. This growing use of social media during crises offers new information sources
from which the right authorities can enhance emergency situation awareness. Survivors in the impacted areas can report
on the-ground information about what they are seeing, hearing, and experiencing during natural disasters. People from
surrounding areas can provide nearly real-time observations about disaster scenes, such as aerial images and photos.
This is particularly useful during severe emergency situations, in which people within blackout areas would experience
limited communication ability. By leveraging the public’s collective intelligence, emergency authorities could better
understand “the big picture” during critical situations, and thus make the best, most informed decisions possible for
deploying aid, rescue, and recovery operations. [6]
Social media could be used to alert emergency managers and officials to certain situations by monitoring the
flow of information from different sources during an incident. Monitoring information flows could help establish
“situational awareness.” Situational awareness is the ability to identify, process, and comprehend critical elements of an
incident or situation. Obtaining real-time information as an incident unfolds can help officials determine where people
are located, assess victim needs, and alert citizens and first responders to changing conditions and new threats [8][6].
Another potential benefit of social media cited by Fugate and others is that it may increase the public’s ability to
communicate with the government. While current emergency communication systems have largely been centralized via
one-way communication—from the agency or organizations to individuals and communities—social media could
potentially alter emergency communication because information can flow in multiple directions (known as backchannel
communications).[6]. And most of the government officials from then president to his special advisers and ministers
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have active twitter handles and use these handles to disseminate information to the general public and these handles are
being updated every now and then, with the trend of the matter on twitter, they got to have access to the information
faster, which they cannot claim not to see.
2.2 Social Media and Fast Information
Clay Shirky (2009)[9][10] writes about the terrible earthquake that rocked the Sichuan province in China on May
12, 2008. With 70,000 deaths; 350,000 wounded and 5 Million left homeless; this was a major, international news story
but, according to Shirky (2009), the first reports came not from traditional news media but from Sichuan residents who
sent messages on QQ, China’s largest social network, and on Twitter, the world’s most popular micro-blogging service.
Initial reports were transmitted while the ground was still shaking and long before the earthquake was reported via any
of the more traditional news media. In fact, Shirky (2009) claims, Rory Cellan-Jones, who filed initial reports of the
tragedy on the BBC, first learned about the quake from Twitter. This was neither a unique nor isolated incident. Twitter
has been cited as the first medium to provide news seekers with information about the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai,
India, and as the first medium to provide both written words and video when the US Airways Flight 1549 landed in the
Hudson River on January 15, 2009. [10]
This same sort of scenario also is playing out within the public relations industry. When the Institute for
Public Relations elected Robert W. Grupp to become its President and CEO effective July 2009, the Institute’s first
official announcement of the appointment on March 5, 2009 was made via Twitter. Keith O’Brien (2009) [11], the Editor
of PR Week, says Twitter has had a dramatic impact on some aspects of public relations. Mike Elgan (2009) [12], a
technology writer and former Editor of Windows magazine, says social media have replaced television as the main
news source for Americans. Since first appearing about many years ago, social media networking sites have become
increasingly popular each year[10]. Though other Social Networking Sites like Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp also pass
across information but in my years of accessing these sites, it was studied that they got their information from Twitter,
because most the Government officials update their Twitter account more often and first, before they consider posting
the same information to other Social Media platform.
Nigeria has a median age of 17.9, and the Nigerian youths used their tech-savvy influence to draw international
attention to the brutality on protesters. This escalated after reports of the Lekki shooting which has drawn widespread
condemnation from international figures such as Rihanna, Kanye West, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Lewis Hamilton,
Pope Francis, and many others. The #EndSARS movement dates back to 2017, when Nigerian youths used the hashtag
to share their experiences on violence and assault perpetrated by the defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).
However, the movement only revived in early October, after a video emerged of police officers thought to be members
of the SARS unit, allegedly killing an unarmed young man. This prompted Nigerian youths to troop to Twitter, calling
on the Federal Government to dissolve the notorious police unit and effect police reform, with the hashtag, #EndSARS,
#Endpolicebrutality, and many others. The hashtag trended continuously on Twitter as Nigerian youths aired their pains
and experiences online. According to Emmanuel Dan-Awoh(2020) Twitter only commands 21% usage of Nigeria’s 82
million internet subscribers. Facebook is leading with 55.94% while Instagram and Youtube are at 5.02% and 3.72%
respectively. “Twitter is by far the most useful social media platform for Nairametrics accounting for more than 90% of
page views and visits,” Twitter is the most effective channel for social movements because relationships on the platform
are not personalized to fit with the real-life connections of its users,” The feed isn’t dictated by personal interests or
contacts to the same extent as other platforms. The user also has more control over his twitter feed due to the
democratization of popular topics. Twitter achieved this through its trending vertical where the most popular topics
within a locality are ranked. This serves to draw more people into a digital version of marketplace chatter. This enables
the platform to be better suited for the nurturing of a herd mentality within the society. This is why Twitter as a platform
is more socially and politically significant than its counterparts. Twitter isn’t for very personal connections compared to
Facebook, and also gives its users more powers to control what goes on their news feed through the democratization
and localization of trending topics, this gives users more information on their surroundings.[13]
According to Wright and Hinson (2009)[14][10] many (85% in 2009 compared with 72% in 2008) believe social
media complement traditional news media, and an even higher number (92% in 2009 compared with 89% in 2008)
think blogs and social media influence coverage in traditional news media. Most (88% in 2009 compared with 84% in
2008) believe blogs and social media have made communications more instantaneous because they encourage
organizations to respond more quickly to criticism. Results continue to show that traditional news media receive higher
scores than blogs and social media in terms of accuracy, credibility, telling the truth and being ethical. Findings also
show most (80% in 2009 and 75% in 2008) expect traditional news media to be honest, tell the truth and be ethical.
Fewer than half (41% in 2009 and 44% in 2008) hold these same expectations for blogs and other social media [14][10].
Bruce R. Lindsay (2011) [6] concluded that, Social media appear to be making inroads into emergency
management for a variety of reasons. For one, accurate, reliable, and timely information is vital for public safety before,
during, and after an incident. As people continue to embrace new technologies, use of social media will likely increase.
Moreover, as its popularity grows, a significant number of people will likely choose social media as their main source
of information. They may also increasingly expect that agencies will also use social media to meet their informational

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needs. Many emergency managers and agencies have already adopted the use of social media to meet this expectation.
However, they also started using social media because they believe it provides another tool to disseminate important
public safety information. [6]
In addition, beyond informational purposes, the use of social media not only allows people to interact and
communicate in ways that are not possible through other media, but in some cases it has allowed response organizations
and victims to interact and communicate with each other when traditional media were unavailable. Some would say that
social media can be used to improve emergency management capabilities and that the promise of such positive results
merit further use of social media for emergencies and disasters. [6]
2.3 Nigerian Police’s Brutality, Torture and Abuse of Human Right
The activities of the police as an institution are meant to be guided at the national and international level by
conventions, standards and treaties (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1966). In spite of state
prohibitions against torture and custodial misconduct by the police, torture has been reported as being commonly used
in police custodies across Nigeria, which is a major reason behind deaths in custody[1][15]. According to the Network on
Police Reform in Nigeria[17][15], personnel of the Nigeria Police routinely carry out summary executions of persons
accused or suspected of crime; rely on torture as a principal means of investigation; commit rape of both sexes, and
engage in extortion at nearly every opportunity. Violent treatment of accused persons by the police or other law
enforcement officers is strongly against Article 5 of the Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials adopted by the
General Assembly of the United Nations, resolution 34/169 of 17 December 1979:
“No law enforcement official may inflict, instigate or tolerate any act of torture or other cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment, nor may any law enforcement official invoke superior orders or exceptional
circumstances such as a state of war or a threat of war, a threat to national security, internal political instability or any
other public emergency as a justification of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” [15]
Constant and consistent reports are received from lawyers, human rights activists, social analysts, and
journalists about police regularly demanding bribes, stealing, extorting money and engaging in different forms of
brutality and abuse of rights [16]. However, not many empirical studies have been done regarding this to give detail
report about the kind of abuse and the level of the brutality that people are facing when they are being arrested or
detained by the police. It may be due to the difficulty researchers will face when they intend to embark on this type of
research because gathering data from the police department may not be easy, as they will not want to release such
sensitive data.
Richard and Abolaji concluded that “The systematic brutality of the police affects virtually every Nigerian,
though at different levels, as the impact weighs down more on the poor. The operations of the Nigeria Police Force bear
almost no resemblance of the requirements of the Nigerian law. The activities of the NPF are at marked variance with
protecting human life, safety, and security, as it rather endangers the people they ought to protect. It is evident that lack
of capacity to conduct proper criminal investigation is responsible for the reliance of the Police on torture-induced
confessions. As a result of the multitude of police stations in the country and the manner of development of the
authority and responsibility of these police stations and divisions, there has been little supervision and control of this
problem. Urgent measures are therefore required to return policing in Nigeria to the path of lawfulness, respectability,
and public confidence. At present, there is no accountability for crimes committed by the police. The NPF is controlled
at the federal level and its officers are not answerable to the local populations. The best approach to solve this dilemma
of unlawful arrest and detention is through intelligent legislation in respect of the laws governing detention for
investigative purposes. Other suggestions include, proper training and retraining of police office, deployment of
advanced forensic techniques for investigations, improvement in the capacity of the police in their investigative
responsibilities, encouragement of professionalism within its rank and file as well as effective punishment of erring
officers as deterrence to others”[15]
2.4 International Demonstrations
International demonstrations were organized by the Nigerian diaspora in Europe, the Americas, Oceania, and
elsewhere in Africa Many Nigerian and Nigerian diaspora celebrities gave supportive statements on social media and
took part in protests, while demonstrators pledged to continue until the demands were met. On Monday, 12 October
2020, Nigerians living in the Waterloo Region of Ontario Canada, organized a peaceful demonstration in support of the
#EndSARs movement. The group gathered in the Waterloo Public Square chanting "What do we want? End SARS!”
On Friday, 23 October, Nigerians and German sympathizers organized a demonstration of several hundred participants
in support of the #ENDSARS movement in Stuttgart Germany. On Sunday, 11 October 2020, Nigerians in Dublin
gathered in front of the Nigerian Embassy to show solidarity with the #EndSARS protests in Nigeria. They denounced
police brutality and SARS. On Sunday 11 October 2020, Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun, a Nigerian singer known as Wizkid,
Kelechi AFTV, Dr Dipo Awojide and many other Nigerians led a protest in support of the EndSARS protest at the
Nigeria High Commission, Thai Square, London, United Kingdom. It has been reported that Wizkid has called out the
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Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari on Twitter over his silence on scrapping the notorious police unit. On Saturday
17 October 2020, Nigerians and other supporters organized a peaceful demonstration in Moston, Manchester, UK, also
in support of the #EndSARs movement. On Sunday, 11 October 2020, young Nigerians in New York converged at the
Nigerian Consulate General in Midtown to protest against SARS. They shared their experiences with SARS while in
Nigeria and asked that the outfit be totally disbanded so that young people can move freely without being profiled as
criminals because of their dressing, accent or the type of vehicle they use. On Sunday, 18 October 2020, Nigerians and
other supporters organized a peaceful demonstration at Southfield, Michigan in support of the #EndSARs movement. [18]
All these international demonstrations by Nigerians in diaspora was actualized because their friends and family
in Nigeria keep them updated through social Media on how SARS keep tormenting them, while some of them were
once a victim of this brutality, maybe when they come home for business or vacation.
3. Methodology
The common types of research methods are Survey, Experimental, Interviews and Observation. Generally, the
problem to be investigated, the objectives and the focus of the study determine the type or combination of research
method to be adopted. Depending on the objective of research and associated problems of research one may need to use
one or a mixture of two or more methodologies called Triangulation method of Research. The research used two
research methods: (i) Quantitative research approach, the survey was conducted through Google forms; the link was
shared with mostly Nigerian youths for us to be able to know the level of their involvement and view on the impact of
Social Media on the police Brutality Awareness, as they are the catalyst behind the awareness creation and also the
victims of the Brutality by Nigerian Police. Most of the questions asked in the survey used a 5-point Likert scale
ranging from 1 to 5, 1 for Strongly agree, 2 for Agree, 3 for Strongly Disagree, 4 for Disagree and 5 for
undecided(blank), while others are open question for respondents to tell us their opinion , while the rest was just a ‘Yes
or No” question. (ii) Observation research method was adopted to have opportunity to observed how hashtags
EndSARS, EndPoliceBrutality, SoroSoke among others trended on Twitter to know how frequent people tweet about it,
retweet, and the impression on the hashtags while Facebook and Instagram were also observed to study and view the
way people post about the Brutality to create awareness and express their mind. The convenience sampling techn iques
was used, the study also employed a Cross-sectional survey method.

4. Data Analysis

4.1 Research Question

To realize the level of impact of Social media to Police Brutality awareness, we need to answer the following questions.

Table1. The research questions.

No Description of the Question

1 Do you think social media has an impact in police brutality Awareness (Endsars )?

2 Did you take part the campaign against police brutality awareness on social media?

3 If yes which social networking site did you use?

4 Do you think the social media impact is good for the awareness?

5 Did social media make the Police accept taking responsibility for their actions?

6 Is the outcome of the campaign satisfactory as it helped in reaching large audience in

short time?

7 Did social media help the victims of police brutality?

8 Social media made the world to know the severity of brutality faced by Nigerian
Citizen?

9 Did the campaign against police brutality spread fast due to social media’s
involvement?

10 What opinion did social media make you to form on police as regard the campaign
against police brutality?

11 Is social media campaign more effective than physical campaign?

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12 What social media tells about police brutality is true?

13 Do you think without social media’s involvement, the awareness/campaigns would have
had fast response from the government?

14 Social media is an integral part that makes the world heard of the police brutality?

15 Which social networking site will you say really helped in the awareness?

Table 2. Responses on research question 1

No Classification Frequency Percentage

1 Strongly agree 129 65.5

2 Agree 59 29.9

3 Strongly Disagree 7 3.6

4 Disagree 1 0.5

5 Maybe 1 0.5

6 Question left blank 3

Total 200 100

Figure1. Chat of the responses to Research Question No1

Table3. Responses on the Research Question 2

No Classification Frequency Percentage

1. Yes 142 71.7

2. No 56 28.3
3. Question left Blank 2

Total 200 100

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Figure 2. Chart of the Responses for Research Question No2

Table 4. Responses for the research question 3

No Classification Frequency Percentage

1 Facebook 39 25.5

1. Twitter 92 60.1

2. Instagram 21 13.7

3. Whatsapp 77 50.3

4. Question left blank 47

Figure 3. Chart of the Responses to Research Question no3

Table 5. Responses for the research question 4

No Classification Frequency Percentage

1. Strongly Agree 123 62.1

2. Agree 69 34.8

3. Strongly Disagree 4 2.0

4. Disagree 2 1.0

5. Question left Blank 2

Total 200 100

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Figure 4. Chart to the Responses of Research Question no4

Table 6. Responses for the Research Question 5

No Classification Frequency Percentage

1. Strongly Agree 46 23.2

2. Agree 95 48

3. Strongly Disagree 14 7.1

4. Disagree 43 21.7

5. Question left Blank 2

Total 200 100

Figure 5. Chart to the Responses of Research Question no5

Table 7. Responses for the Research Question 6

No Classification Frequency Percentage

1. Yes 160 82.5

2. No 34 17.5

3. Question left Blank 6

Total 200 100

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Figure 6. Chart to the Responses of Research Question no6

Table 8. Responses for the Research Question no7

No Classification Frequency Percentage

1. Strongly Agree 64 32.5

2. Agree 96 48.7
3. Strongly Disagree 11 5.6

4. Disagree 26 13.2

5. Question left Blank 3

Total 200 100

Figure 7. Chart to the responses of Research Question no7

Table 9. Responses for the Research Question no8

No Classification Frequency Percentage

1. Strongly Agree 125 63.5

2. Agree 64 32.5
3. Strongly Disagree 4 2.0

4. Disagree 4 2.0

5. Question left Blank 3

Total 200 100

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Figure 8. Chart to the Responses of Research Question No8

Table 10. Responses for the Research Question No9

No Classification Frequency Percentage

1. Strongly Agree 132 66.7

2. Agree 57 28.8

3. Strongly Disagree 4 2.0

4. Disagree 1 0.5

5. No 1 0.5

6. I think so 2 1.0

7. Maybe 1 0.5

8. Question left Blank 2

Total 200 100

Figure 9. Chart to the Responses of Research Question No9

Table 11. Responses for the Research Question No11

No Classification Frequency Percentage

1. Yes 113 58.2

2. No 81 41.8

3. Question left blank 6

Total 200 100

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Figure 10. Chart to the Responses of Research Question No11

Table 12. Responses for the Research Question No12

No Classification Frequency Percentage

1. Yes 185 94.9

2. No 10 5.1

3. Question left blank 5

Total 200 100

Figure 11. Chart to the Responses of Research Question No12

Table 13. Responses for the Research Question No13

No Classification Frequency Percentage

1. Yes 60 30.3

2. No 138 69.7

3. Question left blank 2

Total 200 100

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Figure 12. Chart to the Responses of Research Question No13

Table 14. Responses for the Research Question No14

No Classification Frequency Percentage

1. Strongly Agree 132 67.3

2. Agree 63 32.1

3. Strongly Disagree 1 0.5

4. Disagree -

5. Question left Blank 4

Total 200 99.9

Figure 13. Chart to the Responses of Research Question No14

Table 15. Responses for the Research Question No15

No Classification Frequency Percentage

1. Instagram 49 24.5
2. Twitter 146 73

3. Facebook 66 33

4. Whatsapp 42 21

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Figure 14. Chart to the Responses of Research Question No15

4.2 Discussion of Findings

The following findings were obtained from the analysis of the data presented above:
 The study shows that majority of the respondents (95.4%) agreed that Social media is a very useful
tool that really helped in the Police Brutality awareness. While 69.7% of the respondents agreed that
the awareness had swift response from the Government due to the involvement of Social Media, and
67.3% of the respondents agreed that its social media that made the international bodies and the world
in general to know of the Brutality, Torture and Abuses Nigerians are facing from the hand of their
Police Force.
 Larger number of Nigerians took part in the campaign against police brutality, where majority of the
respondents (60.1%) used Twitter as the Social Networking site for creating the awareness. Twitter is
also the social networking site that the respondents agreed (73%) to really help during the online
awareness as the hastags really trended everyday with millions of likes, retweets,and impressions.
 Nigerians have lost hope in the Police department of the Federation as they had formed bad opinion
about the police due to what they see and read on their Social Networking Sites about police Brutality
as they call for Police reformation and reorientation.
 Social media campaign was the power engine that helped in igniting the physical protest as many
people may fear coming out to protest but they keep using their social media influence and
involvement to campaign against the brutality, though 58.2% of the respondents agreed that social
media campaign is more effective than physical protest but in the real fact physical demonstration is
what our government yields to.
 Social media helped the victims of Police Brutality as the whole world got to know the victims as
their pictures and Story are shared on the social media, though some of them might have died but the
living ones are getting judgment as the Government ordered each state to set up judiciary panel for the
hearing of the police misconduct.
5. Conclusion

Though Social media has some negative impacts on young ones and the society, however, findings have shown
that it still have numerous positive impact, one of the positive impact was how it really helped during Police Brutality
Awareness in Nigeria, as the youths used the Social Networking Sites to express their needs and grievances as they
campaigned against the Brutality, Torture and Abuses they face from the police. Social media is not only used for chat,
watching Movies or catch cruise, it can be used for communication with the government and the world at large, which

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the Nigerian youth did during their campaign against Police Brutality. Also, twitter was seen to be a very useful social
Networking sites that can be employ for online situational awareness tool.

References

[1]. Amnesty International (2014) Welcome to Hell Fire: Torture and Other Ill Treatment in Nigeria. London:
Amnesty International Limited.
[2]. Constanzo, M. & Gerrity, E. (2009) The Effects and Effectiveness of Using Torture as an Interrogation
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