Categorisation of Police Misconduct in Nigeria

This study conducts an integrative literature review to address the absence of a comprehensive and systematic classification of police misconduct in Nigeria. Using the PRISMA framework, peer-reviewed articles published between 2015 and 2025 were analysed, and thematic analysis uncovered nine distinct categories of misconduct. Each category comprises multiple subcategories that reflect structural, behavioural, and institutional dimensions of deviant policing across Nigeria’s geopolitical regions. Institutional theory and broken windows theory provide the theoretical interpretations of these patterns. The nine categories are: corruption and financial misconduct, extrajudicial and lethal misconduct, physical and psychological abuse, sexual misconduct, abuse of power and authoritarianism, human rights violations, operational and institutional failure, systemic and political issues, and residual misconduct. A frequency analysis of the literature shows that corruption and financial misconduct attracted the highest documentation (15 sources), confirming it as the most pervasive category. This study concludes that the documented patterns of misconduct reflect deep institutional conditions within the Nigerian Police Force that continue to enable and sustain deviant conduct, and therefore recommends systemic and collaborative approaches that involve the specific, actionable, and coordinated efforts of the National Assembly, the Police Service Commission, the Ministry of Police Affairs, the National Human Rights Commission, the Ministry of Interior, civil society organisations, and the National Judicial Council.