The COVID-19 pandemic transformed the many intersections between policing and public health, illuminating profound effects of the interactions and collaborative efforts between both sectors in Nigeria, which culminated into an industrial action by health workers in protest of police harassment and extortion This study, which represents one of the first attempts at empirically examining inter-sectoral collaboration between police and healthcare personnel in the promotion of public health, explored health workers’ experiences with the police officers coordinating local shutdowns and enforcing stay-at-home mandates Sixty-two health workers, comprising medical doctors, nurses, pharmacists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, clinical and patient services assistants, were interviewed in a qualitative study and a thematic analysis of the narratives was carried out Findings indicated that participants were subjected to different forms of aggression and extortive behaviour from police officers at checkpoints, which negatively impacted on their official functioning as responders to the pandemic Occasionally, these aggressive and extortive behaviours were specifically targeted at health workers based on officers’ impressions and prior unpleasant experiences with health institution and its personnel These findings have important policy and practical implications, if the physical health and emotional wellbeing of frontline health workers are to be recognised and met, in supporting them in their role of combating COVID-19 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Policing & Society is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use This abstract may be abridged No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract (Copyright applies to all Abstracts )
Policing the lockdown: accounts of police officers’ aggression and extortion of frontline health workers in Nigeria