Why do Nigerians cooperate with the police? Legitimacy, procedural justice, and other contextual factors in Nigeria

Abstract

This chapter presents a number of significant contributions to the legitimacy and procedural justice literature. Specifically, it explores whether perceptions of procedural justice are more influential than perceptions of police effectiveness in determining Nigerians' legitimacy assessments and expressed willingness to cooperate with police. In addition, the chapter extends existing police legitimacy scholarship by examining additional variables that might predict public perceptions of police legitimacy and self-reported willingness to cooperate with police in Nigeria. Predatory policing is best described as police activities mainly devoted to the personal enrichment and self-preservation of the police themselves or the systematic subjugation of subordinate and vulnerable groups. Public perceptions of procedurally just policing, in addition to perceived police effectiveness, were found to be relevant in predicting Nigerians' self-reported willingness to cooperate with police. This emerged despite Nigeria being a country riddled with corruption and police abuse. These results confirmed both the robustness and limits of the procedural justice model in developing contexts.