This presentations explores the effects of distrust of the police on policing dynamics in contemporary Nigeria and reflects on the impact that a rapidly changing technological landscape (ICTs, AI etc.) might have on these dynamics.
Paper long abstract:
Building on ethnographic materials collected in Lagos in 2018, this presentation argues that policing according to formal prescriptions—e.g., the Criminal Procedure Act—is virtually impossible in contemporary Nigeria because of pervasive public distrust. At the same time, the informal processes that policing agents resort to further undermine public trust in the criminal justice system, thereby creating a self-defeating spiral that provides justifications among the public and the police to support and/or actively participate in illegal forms of crime control including jungle justice and extra-legal killing. The presentation will contend that new information and communication technologies bring both opportunities and challenges for distrust-driven policing disorder in the country.