Johnson, 36, was shot dead by a police personnel on the Special Anti Cultism Squad (SACS) team, during a police raid on his No.1 Beco street, Onipetesi, Mangoro Bus Stop neighborhood.

The killing sparked outrage and reactions on social media afterwards, forcing the police command to issue a statement saying it had arrested the officers responsible.  

In a tweet, the Nigerian presidency says it was sending “deepest condolences to the family and friends of Kolade Johnson, victim of the March 31 fatal shooting in Lagos. @PoliceNG have assured that the Team suspected of involvement in the shooting have been apprehended and are undergoing disciplinary procedure. Updates will be provided”.

Police brutality and killings are rife in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, where young men are randomly stopped and harassed on the streets by police officers on suspicion of being internet fraudsters.

An intense 3-year social media campaign calling for the reform of notorious police unit—Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS)--has only led to mixed messages from the presidency. 

On August 14, 2018, then Acting President Yemi Osinbajo ordered the Inspector General of Police to shut down SARS as reports of police brutality continued to emerge with regularity from across the country. 

"Following persistent complaints and reports on the activities of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) that border on allegations of human rights violations, His Excellency, Professor Yemi Osinbajo SAN, Acting-President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, has directed the Inspector General of Police to, with immediate effect, overhaul the management and activities of SARS and ensure that any unit that will emerge from the process, will be intelligence-driven and restricted to the prevention and detection of armed robbery and kidnapping, and apprehension of offenders linked to the stated offences, and nothing more”, the statement from Osinbajo had read. 

The Acting President also “directed the National Human Rights Commission to set up a Committee that will conduct nation-wide investigation of the alleged unlawful activities of SARS in order to afford members of the general public the opportunity to present their grievances with a view to ensuring redress."

Nothing has been heard of the committee since the directive was issued. 

In a series of tweets issued on Monday, April 1, Amnesty International said it has become clear that Osinbajo’s police reform directive has yielded nothing. 

“Many attempts to reform SARS, including the one ordered by @ProfOsinbajo in August last year have been ineffective. Nigerians are still brutalized by SARS. Restructuring SARS is not enough unless the government takes concrete steps to protect Nigerians.

“Our research since 2016 uncovered a pattern of ruthless human rights violations by SARS, where victims are arrested and tortured until they either make a ‘confession’ or pay officers a bribe to be released.

“Apart from brutality, some police officers in SARS regularly demand bribes, steal and extort money from criminal suspects and their families. SARS officers are getting rich through their brutality. In Nigeria, it seems that torture is a lucrative business”, the organization said. 

Lagos Police Commissioner, CP Zubairu Muazu has called for calm from members of the public in the wake of the Mangoro shooting, while assuring that justice will prevail at the end of the day.