Taking corporate media reports at face value, we would get the impression that it’s white police officers who are guilty of police brutality. These “news” outlets give the distinct impression that the world would be a better place without white people.
And yet the steaming pile of bovine feces, otherwise known as CNN, reports that police brutality is a major problem in Nigeria, which is almost 100% black. From Microsoft News:
Nigeria’s leading celebrities and activists have organized mass protests across major cities in the country Friday demanding an end to police brutality in the country.
The nationwide protests were a culmination of weeks of anger and outcry online by the country’s young people over claims of kidnapping, harassment and extortion by a police unit known as the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS)…
‘Nothing will happen if I shoot you,’
The hashtag #EndSARS, #StopPolicebrutality has continued to trend on Twitter as young people shared their stories, photos and videos that they allege show men in Nigeria police uniforms searching their cars and harassing them.
Lagos-based entrepreneur Samuel Otigba told CNN he has had several encounters with members of the police that he believes to be from the SARS unit. He said the encounters usually begin with requests for bribes. Otigba alleges that in May, he got into trouble because he declined to give a bribe to one of the officers when he was stopped after an evening out with his wife.
He says his phone was searched and he was threatened by the officer who told him, “You know if I shoot you, nothing will happen. The highest anyone will do is cry justice on Twitter.”
Life is cheap in Africa, at least compared to the West, so this is not surprising. Nevertheless, I wish the Nigerians well, and hope they succeed in addressing this problem.
What truly shocked me is the fact that CNN didn’t try to pin the blame on white racism. Had the authors been white, they would probably be subject to corrective action, or firing, for failing to link the abuse to whites. But all three authors are black Nigerians – so they probably have nothing to fear.
The SARS unit? How ironic.
I can confirm there is no BLM movement in Eritrea despite all the dissidents and defectors tortured in prison. No one is allowed to gather on the street without permission.
People in the First World tend to have a dim view of their own police until they visit the Third World, then they come back freshly appreciative despite all the imperfections.
The police I encountered in Ethiopia were very friendly. So were the soldiers. I’m sure others have had different experiences though.
Uniformed guys in Eritrea were mostly ok, too. They just have a whistle and a notebook. It’s the secret police you have to watch out for.