COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown Enforcement: Strategies of the Nigeria Police Force and Lessons for the Future

Authors

  • Usman A. Ojedokun

Keywords:

COVID-19 Pandemic, Public Health Emergency, Lockdown, Police Officials, Nigeria Police Force, Law Enforcement Agency

Abstract

The Nigerian government mobilisation of the police for the enforcement of COVID-19 pandemic-induced lockdown has redefined police officials’ job prescription in a new fundamental way. Although the Nigeria Police Force routinely maintain law and order during crisis situations, yet, policing citizens’ compliance in the middle of a public health emergency is a relatively novel responsibility for the law enforcement agency. Therefore, this article critically evaluates the operational strategies employed by the Nigeria Police Force for the enforcement of government-imposed movement and social restriction measures. Data were principally sourced through a case study analysis of media and government reports. The paper argued that the overall effectiveness of the operational tactics adopted by the Nigeria Police Force for the special assignment was hampered on many fronts by some institutional and procedural issues. Therefore, the law enforcement agency is urged to strategically build on the COVID-19 pandemic experience to better prepare for future public health emergencies.

Author Biography

  • Usman A. Ojedokun

    Dr. Usman A. Ojedokun is a lecturer at the Department of Sociology, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria. He majors in Criminology. His main areas of research interest include crime prevention and law enforcement, policing and police studies, violence, gender and cultural studies. He has worked and published extensively in these areas. E-Mail: uaojedokun@gmail.com; ua.ojedokun@ui.edu.ng

References

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Published

2023-02-04

Issue

Vol. 9 No. 2 (2021)

Section

Research Articles

License

Authors retain copyright in their articles and grant SALUS the right of first publication. The work is simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as appropriate credit is given to the author(s) and the journal, a link to the license is provided, and any changes made are indicated.

How to Cite

COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown Enforcement: Strategies of the Nigeria Police Force and Lessons for the Future. (2023). Salus Journal, 9(2), 16-26. https://journals.csu.domains/index.php/salusjournal/article/view/130