Policing and Human Rights in Nigeria: Marxism and Symbolic Interactionism
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46881/ajh.v3i0.106Keywords:
Human Rights, Marxism, Nigeria Police, Symbolic InteractionismAbstract
The Nigeria Police, being the key law enforcement agency in the country has had to contend with accusations of human rights violation which is proof that it is facing serious challenges in its attempt to balance rights protection with national security, and public order.Specifically, proponents of macro-sociological perspectives tend to assume that it is the external influence of the elite class which constructs and mandates individual police officers’ behaviours in their daily encounters with civilians. Meanwhile, questions have been raised on whether all officers of the overarching police institution act in uniformity to control the subordinate class. Consequently, this papermade useof a triangulation of Marxist and Symbolic Interactionist Theories to establish both macro-and micro-sociological factors responsible for human right abuse by the Nigeria Police and evolve theoretically grounded solutions to the problem of human rights infractions in the country.The author concludes that overreliance on structural dimension to police abuse of human rightsis undoubtedly oversimplifying the micro-level decision-making processes of the parties involved.As a result, careful recruitment and selection process, effective monitoring and penal system, andmassive reorientation of the police to make it fit into policing a democratic society like Nigeria were suggested.
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