Policing the spread of COVID-19 and the struggle for sustainable livelihood among informal workers in Nigeria

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has been the subject of numerous scholarly discussions. However, scholars have yet to pay more attention to the link between its official containment measures and the struggle of informal workers for sustainable livelihoods in Nigeria. This study argues that the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown policing was one aspect of the state-society encounter that had a deleterious effect on the economic security of vulnerable populations. The research employs the thesis of neoliberalism and a qualitative-dominant mixed methods approach to explore this state-society encounter during the pandemic. It concludes that a subtle and humane approach to policing in emergencies presents a more civil engagement in policy enforcement that would foster happier encounters between security forces and the general public.