A LEXICO-SEMANTIC ANALYSIS OF SELECTED POSTS AND COMMENTS ON POLICE BRUTALITY IN NIGERIA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.60787/aasd.vol3no1.102Keywords:
Lexico-semantics, police brutality discourse, social media, Michael HallidayAbstract
Language plays a functional role in human societies and human existence would have been almost impossible without a unique means of communication. Recent studies on lexico-semantics focus on the examination of political and electioneering lexemes and slangs and neologisms on social media, whereas the 2026 Nigeria police brutality discourse has received little or almost no significant scholarly engagement. It is against this backdrop that this paper embarks on a lexico-semantic analysis of Nigeria police brutality discourse on social media. The work adopts Halliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar as its framework. The qualitative research design was adopted, and relevant Instagram and Facebook posts and comments were purposively selected based on their relevance. The study reveals that the lexical items used by participants in police brutality discourse are not mere social media lexemes but expressions which show creativity and depth in meaning projection. Additionally, most of the words produce illocutionary force required for a positive change in policing system in Nigeria, while others raise concerns over citizens’ safety and the administration of justice for victims of police brutality in Nigeria. The study also shows that the language of Nigeria police brutality discourse reflects the prevalent predatory policing in Nigeria, and the consequential public distrust of the Nigerian police. The work concludes that the intersection of text, context and meaning in police brutality discourse in Nigeria reflects the dynamics of language use, meaning generation and assigning of meaning in discourse context.
Downloads
References
Aborisade, R. (2021). Accounts of unlawful use of force and misconduct of the Nigerian police in the enforcement of Covid-19 measures. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, 36; 450-462.
Bala, V. & Kefas, J. (2025). Lexico-semantic analysis of Helon Habila’s Measuring Time. Journal of Language and Linguistic, 7(2); 28-37.
Balogun, T. (2013). In defense of Nigerian pidgin. Journal of Languages and Culture, 4(5); 90.
Bavali, M. & Sadighi, F. (2008). Chomsky’s universal grammar and Halliday’s systemic functional linguistics: an appraisal and a compromise. Pan-Pacific Association of Applied Linguistics, 12(1); 1128.
Chappell, P. (2013). An introduction to systemic functional grammar. Hoprea.wordpress.com/2013/02/07/an-introduction-to-systemic-functional-grammar. Retrieved May 25, 2026.
Edun, J., Edun, A. & Akoji, S. (2025). Unveiling the phenomenon of police brutality in Nigeria: a sociological discourse. Jalingo Journal of Social and Management Sciences, 6(4); 29-40.
Etuk, J. A. (2021). “Signification and cultural projection in ‘Akwawood’”. An unpublished PhD thesis of the Department of English, University of Ibadan.
Etuk, J. & V. E. Urujzian (2018). Language and Ideology in Number Plates Slogans of the 36 states of Nigeria and Abuja: A New Horizon. A Journal of Contemporary Research, 21 (1), 86-95.
Etuk, J. & Akpan, I. (2023). Language and gender ideology in Tekno’s ‘Woman’. Sapientia Global Journal of Arts, Humanities and Development Studies (SGOJAHDS), 6(4); 69-80.
Etuk, J. & V. E. Urujzian (2024). Lexis and Style in Tanure Ojaide’s Delta Blues and Home Songs. LWATI: A Journal of Contemporary Research. 21(1), 187, 2024.
Etuk, J. & Okon, P. (2025). A lexico -semantic analysis of 2024 gen z slang: exploring no gree for anybody and its social implications. Awka Journal of English Language and Literary Studies (AJELLS), 12(1); 138-157.
Etuk, J. A. & Umoh, O. A. (2024). “Style as idiolect in Ehikhamenor’s “Igodomigodo must not comatose”. Dutsin-Ma Journal of English and Literature (DUJEL). 9(2), 365-382.
Ezue, G. (2025). A lexico-semantics analysis of neologism in social media communication. Multidisciplinary Journal of Law, Education and Humanities (MJLEH), 2 (2); 145-151.
Felecan, D. & Bughesiu, A. (2016). Anthroponyms in taboo discourse: the case of Romanian swear phrases. Hough, C. & Izdebska, D. (Eds.). ‘Names and the Environment’: Proceeding of the 25th International Congress of Onomastic Sciences, Gaslow, 25-29 August 2014. 21-32
Goshu, B. & Ridwan, M. (2025). Lexical and semantic variation in digital communication among adolescents: a case study of TikTok comments. Linglit Journal: Scientific Journal of Linguistics and Literature, 6(3); 164-177.
Halliday, M. (1985). An introduction to functional grammar. Arnold.
Ike, T. & Jidong, D. (2022). Victims’ experiences of crime, police behaviour and complaint avenues for reporting misconduct in Nigeria: an interpretative phenomenological analysis. Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism, 18(20); 213-230.
Ittefaq, M., & Ahmad, T. (2018). Representation of Islam and Muslims on social media: A discourse analysis of Facebook. Journal of Media Critiques, 4(13):39-52.
Lim, W. (2025). What is qualitative research? Aan overview and guidelines. Australian Marketing Journal, 33(2); 199-229.
Mbede, A. & Etuk, J. (2026). Communication in the multimedia age: exploring the use of emojiology in selected X comments on Mirabel’s alleged rape saga. Nigeria Journal of Arts and Humanities (NJAH), 6(2); 43-51.
Mbede, A., Jacob, O., Andrew-Essien, E., and Enang, E., (2024b). Exploring Social Media as an Apparatus for Audience Engineering in the Nigerian Theatre Milieu. Integrity Journal of Humanities. 5(2), 95-105.
Mengis, J., & Eppler, M. J. (2008). Understanding and managing conversations from a knowledge perspective: An analysis of the roles and rules of face-to-face conversations in organizations. Organization Studies, 29(10), 1287–1313.
Ogbukwo, C. (2025). Lexico-semantic analysis of some selected gen z expressions. Interdisciplinary Journal of African & Asian Studies (IJAAS) 11(3); 33-38.
Ogundeji, A. O. & Uduk, H. (2024). Lexico-semantic analysis of ASUU-FGN impasse in Nigerian newspapers. Savannah Journal of Language, Literature and Communication Studies (SAJOLLCOS), 5(2); 222-236.
Okafor, M. & Nwode, C. (2022). Language misuse by media, individuals and group as the remote cause of insecurity in West Africa. Awka Journal of Linguistics and Languages, Special Edition 2; 298- 331.
Papacharissi, Z. (2002). The virtual sphere: The Internet as new public sphere. New Media & Society, 4(1), 9–27.
Tasie, C. & Bron, A. (2024). A morpho-semantic analysis of the use of reduplication in Elizabeth Oshuare Ombor-Pereowei’s “I No Fit Breathe”. Icheke Journal of THE Faculty of Humanities, 22(1); 363-379.
Tenny, S., Brannan, J. & Brannan, G. (2022). Qualitative study. National Library of Medicine.
www,ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bookd/NBK430685/.
Udoka, S.T., Umoh, O. & Etuk, J. A. (2020). “Understanding Ibibio clause structure from the perspective of English Language”. Akwa Ibom State University Journal of English. 3, 53-56.
Utin, I. & Akpan, I. (2024). Aspects of syntax modification of open class items in English and Anaang languages: a creative analysis. AKSU Journal of English, 5(1); 218-227.
Urujzian, V. (2013). Role of English language in human resources development in Africa. Academic Discourse: An International Journal. 5, 176-186.
Urujzian, V. (2018). Internationalization of the English language in Nigeria. The Intuition. 8(1), 269-375.
Urujzian, V. (2020a). E-learning and English language Development in Nigeria: Trend, Issues, Challenges and Prospects. Journal of Consultancy Training and Services. 1, 77-84.
Urujzian, V. (2020b). The Development of English Languages Beyond 2020: A Focus on Synonymy. Journal of Prestine. 2(1), 37-44.
Urujzian, V. (2022). They Called Us Whores, Yet They Came to Us – Language and Patriarchal Ideology in Adimora-Ezeigbo’s Trafficked. Lwati: A Journal of Contemporary Research. 19(3), 48-57.
Urujzian, V. & Etuk, J. A. (2024). “A lexico-semantic analysis of selected songs of Wizkid”. Sapientia Global Journal of Arts, Humanities and Development Studies (SGOJAHDS). 7(1), 313-324.
Uwen, G. (2019). A lexico-semantic analysis of creative expressions used during the 2019 general elections in Nigeria. FAHSANU Journal, 2(1); 180-191.
Valentini, C. (2015). Is using social media “good” for the public relations profession? A critical reflection. Public Relations Review, 41(2), 170–177.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 AKSU Annals of Sustainable Development
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Manuscript content on this site is licensed under Creative Commons Licenses. Authors wishing to include figures, tables, or text passages that have already been published elsewhere are required to obtain permission from the copyright owner(s) for both the print and online format and to include evidence that such permission has been granted when submitting their papers. Any material received without such evidence will be assumed to originate from the authors.
ICIDR Publishing House