Grace Ashiru
In Lagos, the memory of October 20, 2020, continues to linger in the mind of Daniel Tambee, a Nigerian blockchain developer. On that night, at the Lekki Tollgate, military forces opened fire on protesters calling for an end to police brutality. While multiple casualties were reported, the exact number remains contested. However, what left the deepest scar on Tambee was not just the violence itself, but what happened to the evidence and the victims in the aftermath.
The #EndSARS protests, which had begun weeks earlier, focused on the now-defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a police unit originally formed to fight armed robbery, but which had become a symbol of systemic abuse. The crisis went beyond the misconduct of a single unit, rooted in a broader issue. As internet fraud, often referred to as ‘Yahoo’ or ‘419,’ became more prevalent among Nigerian youth, the police began adopting aggressive tactics in their attempts to combat it. This led to widespread profiling, arbitrary searches, and accusations of bribery targeting young Nigerians, particularly those with smartphones or laptops.
The tipping point came with the death of Jimoh Isiaq in Ogbomoso on October 9, 2020, and the deaths of other victims of police brutality. In response, Nigerians, particularly the youth, took to the streets in numbers unseen before. For several days, the protests remained largely peaceful, with demonstrators calling for police reform and accountability.
But the conclusion of the movement was as tragic as its hopeful beginning. DJ Switch live-streamed from the Lekki Tollgate during the shooting, providing real-time documentation of the violence. Despite her footage, government officials later claimed the video had been manipulated. Amid the chaos that followed the shooting, vital evidence disappeared, witness statements were disregarded, and the government’s official narrative stood in stark contrast to what millions of people had watched unfold on social media.
Five years after the nationwide protests against police brutality, young Nigerians, especially remote workers, continue to face routine harassment. The statistics tell a grim story: The Nigeria Police Force’s own accountability reports acknowledge over 2,000 complaints against officers in 2024 alone. Civil society organizations believe the true number is likely much higher.
The Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), a Nigerian media organization, analyzed data from the National Human Rights Commission and discovered approximately 83,802 human rights violations committed by police, military, and paramilitary forces between January and August 2024. These statistics emphasize the urgent need for innovative solutions.
“I often wonder what would have happened if video recordings of that protest had been stored on the blockchain,” Tambee reflects. “What if the footage of the Lekki Tollgate violence had been instantly secured in a system that no government could ever delete or dispute?”
It was in the aftermath of witnessing evidence vanish and justice delayed that Tambee came up with his solution: Padi Protocol.
Tambee’s path to blockchain was not accidental. With a background in traditional web development, he became captivated by the technology’s potential far beyond financial speculation. “Blockchain is about much more than just finance,” he says. “Its reach is incredibly broad.”
What drew him in was blockchain’s immutability—the fact that once data is stored, it cannot be altered or deleted. For someone like Tambee, who had watched evidence of police brutality disappear or be dismissed as “doctored,” this feature seemed revolutionary. “Imagine recording evidence and placing it on a blockchain, where it can never be tampered with,” he says. “That’s a verifiable source of truth. And if there are multiple sources pointing to the same piece of evidence, that becomes something you simply cannot ignore.”
He points to DJ Switch’s experience as a perfect example: “Imagine if she could have recorded a video, and perhaps five other people had uploaded it to an immutable database, one that allows everyone to access and verify the content. That would have made her claim far more substantial and irrefutable.”
Padi Protocol is an innovative app designed to help Nigerian youths report police brutality and securely store irrefutable evidence. Built on the Celo blockchain, the platform ensures that the records logged cannot be altered, destroyed, or disputed. It also bridges the gap in legal representation by connecting Nigerians to lawyers who charge on a token-based system, making legal services more accessible and affordable for those who have been wrongfully profiled.
When users register on Padi Protocol, they create a digital ID in the form of an NFT (Non-Fungible Token)—essentially a blockchain-based ID card. This ID contains verified personal information stored on IPFS (InterPlanetary File System), a decentralized storage system powered by blockchain technology.
Each NFT ID is linked to a verified lawyer from Padi Protocol’s network, instantly connecting vulnerable youth with legal representation. The platform currently has 500 lawyers in training, all vetted and educated on blockchain technology and the mission of the platform.
“We call them paddies,” Tambee explains, referring to the Nigerian slang for friends or allies. “In our case, the padi—who are the lawyers—are your friends. When you sign up, you are assigned a lawyer, your legal representative, whom you can always reach out to.”
Technical Architecture Tailored for Nigerian Realities
Tambee selected the Celo blockchain for specific reasons that align with Nigerian circumstances. Unlike Ethereum’s high gas fees or Bitcoin’s significant energy consumption, Celo is mobile-first and designed to work seamlessly on smartphones with minimal data usage. This is crucial in Nigeria, where most people access the internet via mobile devices, and data costs can be prohibitive for many users.
The platform is designed to function even with intermittent connectivity. Evidence is stored locally until the user can reconnect to the internet, at which point it is synced to the blockchain. The system prioritizes decentralization over convenience. The frontend of the platform is hosted on IPFS, ensuring that the platform cannot be taken down by authorities through conventional website hosting shutdowns. “It is going to be purely decentralized, meaning even if we face legal challenges with the government and they try to take the site down, we cannot because we have no central point of control.”
Tambee also addresses privacy concerns by storing actual evidence files on IPFS while keeping only cryptographic hashes on the blockchain. This approach maintains the immutability of the records while ensuring privacy is preserved.
To make blockchain-based evidence viable in Nigeria, it must align with the country’s legal framework. Digital evidence has been admissible in Nigerian courts since the Evidence Act of 2011, particularly Section 84, which governs the admissibility of computer-generated evidence. The Evidence (Amendment) Act, 2023, further expanded the scope of admissible electronic records, incorporating new technologies such as blockchain and decentralized systems.
While blockchain evidence is still a novel concept, the law does not specifically mention blockchain, but the technology’s outputs are considered electronic records once their authenticity and integrity are verified—something blockchain’s cryptographic signatures guarantee.
Deborah Orji, one of the lawyers on the platform, sees Padi Protocol as an essential tool in Nigeria’s legal landscape. “Nigeria is a low-trust, legal-averse society where many people either cannot afford legal help or do not trust the system to protect them,” she explains. The blockchain-based approach addresses both challenges by reducing costs and providing tamper-proof documentation that significantly strengthens legal cases.
During the EndSARS protests, when courts were burned and records lost, many ongoing cases became impossible to resolve because lawyers could no longer access critical evidence. Padi Protocol’s immutable storage system significantly reduces this risk, ensuring that legal work and essential documents remain accessible, even when physical infrastructure is compromised.
Overcoming Adoption Challenges
Despite the promising potential of the platform, questions remain regarding its adoption and sustainability. Nigeria’s cryptocurrency ecosystem is still maturing, and many citizens are skeptical of blockchain technology due to its associations with scams and market volatility.
Blockchain expert Kassy Olisakwe acknowledges both the promise and challenges of civic blockchain applications. “Blockchain’s immutability and transparency can secure civic records and deter tampering,” he says. “However, inconsistent internet connectivity and unreliable power sources can hinder the widespread adoption of on-chain solutions.”
Olisakwe also raises concerns about privacy. “Public blockchains expose all data to every participant, meaning personal or legal documents stored on-chain risk privacy breaches. The best practice is to keep sensitive files off-chain and store only hashed proofs on-chain.”
The sustainability of Padi Protocol remains a pressing concern. “Utility tokens often lose momentum once the initial incentives are exhausted,” Olisakwe warns. The challenge for Padi Protocol will be maintaining lawyer engagement and encouraging user participation without relying on speculative rewards.
Funding presents another significant challenge for Padi Protocol. Like many startups, the platform is operating on limited capital. Tambee is currently in the process of raising a pre-seed round to accelerate development and broaden its outreach. “There are fantastic features we’re eager to implement before the launch, but timelines are becoming tight due to a lack of sufficient capital,” he explained.
This fundraising round is crucial to secure resources for platform development, legal onboarding, and user education. “We’re taking a milestone-driven approach, but securing sustainable backing will allow us to scale faster and build with purpose,” Tambee added.
One of the biggest uncertainties revolves around police acceptance. Law enforcement agencies around the world have a history of resisting accountability tools, and Nigeria’s police force, in particular, has been notably resistant to external oversight.
“The Nigeria Police Force is open to technologies that promote transparency,” said a senior officer in Port Harcourt, who requested to remain anonymous. “However, any system must respect the authority of officers while they perform their duties. That said, no technology is without value—we are open to dialogue.”
The 2020 Police Act actually encourages community policing and technological innovation, offering a legal framework for digital interactions between citizens and law enforcement. For example, Section 66 mandates the documentation of police operations, while Section 35(3) guarantees citizens’ right to legal representation. The real challenge, however, lies in the implementation of these provisions.
Solomon, a legal practitioner who is not affiliated with the platform and prefers to be identified by his first name only, expressed doubt about police cooperation: “The police force has historically resisted accountability tools. However, if blockchain records can serve as verifiable, tamper-proof evidence in cases of abuse, it will gradually become harder to dismiss citizen complaints.”
This skepticism also extends to potential users. “It sounds promising, but I’m hesitant about blockchain solutions after losing money in crypto scams,” says Tobi Adebare, a Lagos-based web designer who was detained by the police for a week in 2023. “If they can prove it’s not a scam and it actually works when you’re up against the police, I’d definitely use it.”
This reflects the core challenge: in a market oversaturated with crypto scams and failed blockchain promises, how does a genuinely effective civic tool earn trust?
Padi Protocol is not the first blockchain-based initiative aiming to tackle abuse. HeHop, a decentralized platform based in France, uses blockchain to anonymously report and verify cases of gender-based violence. Similarly, Smashboard, developed by India’s independent journalist Noopur Tiwari, leverages blockchain and encryption to help survivors securely document harassment while maintaining control over their data.
