WHY PEOPLE COOPERATE WITH THE POLICE IN NIGERIA: AN ALTERNATIVE VIEW

Author

• Rasheed Babatunde Ibrahim, Southern Illinois University CarbondaleFollow

Date of Award

5-1-2026

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Criminology and Criminal Justice

First Advisor

Kochel, Tammy Rinehart

Abstract

This study examines public cooperation with the Nigeria police and the social, emotional, and rational factors that shape such cooperation in the post-EndSARS era. Although research in Western democracies emphasizes police legitimacy and procedural justice as the core drivers of public cooperation, this study explores whether these frameworks hold in Nigeria, where policing is characterized by corruption, coercion, and systemic distrust. Drawing from normative, instrumental, expressive, and rational-choice perspectives, the study tests a comprehensive model to explain citizens’ willingness to cooperate with the police in a context defined by fear, mistrust, and historical abuse.Data were collected through a cross-sectional survey of 1,655 adults in Nigeria. The study measured key constructs within the normative, instrumental, and expressive models of public cooperation, while also testing the novel rational-choice model and its variables. I used latent variable measurement models to evaluate and validate the dimensional structures and formation of the key latent constructs. Then I conducted structural analysis to examine the relationship between the exogenous and endogenous variables and evaluate how normative, instrumental, expressive, and rational-choice factors predict the willingness to cooperate.The findings reveal that police legitimacy had no significant effect on cooperation, while dull compulsion—a sense of indirect coercion—was a strong and positive predictor. Trust in the police and police-resident familiarity also increased cooperation, whereas fear of the police, fear of retaliation, and barriers to cooperation reduced it. Rational-choice variables such as perceived benefits of cooperation, deterrence, moral motivation, and cooperation by others emerged as significant motivators of public cooperation. In contrast, prior victimization and negative experiences with police use of force and corruption increased fear and reduced cooperation. Overall, the results suggest that Nigerians may cooperate less out of legitimacy or moral obligation and more out of indirect coercion, fear, and pragmatic calculation.These findings challenge Western-based models of cooperation and highlight the need for a context-specific framework suited to Nigeria’s current environment. Policy recommendations emphasize reducing coercive practices, addressing public fear, enhancing police accountability, and fostering community familiarity to promote sustainable and voluntary cooperation.