Kaycee Madu, the justice minister and solicitor general of Alberta, Canada

A regional minister in Canada Kaycee Madu has endorsed protests against brutality in Nigeria, his country of birth.

Madu, who is the justice minister and solicitor general of Alberta, a province in Canada, said his cousin was “murdered” by Nigerian policemen in 2013 and that the policing system in Nigeria needed total reform.

“Fundamental human rights like peace, security and freedom from police brutality are universal,” Madu said on Twitter on Saturday. “The Nigerian government has an obligation to protect its citizens and deliver substantive police reform.”

“Changing the name of SARS and reconstituting it without significant reform won’t be sufficient to satisfy the cry of the Nigerian people for justice.

The protests broke out last week to demand an end to high-handedness and brutality of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Nigerian police.

SARS, as the unit is popularly known, has been accused of crimes including extrajudicial killing, kidnapping and extortion.

Thousands of young Nigerians have taken to the streets in major cities including Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Enugu and Ibadan, to press home their demands.

Amnesty International said at least 10 persons have been killed since the protests started.

Madu said despite his best efforts to make the Nigerian police investigate the death of his cousin Chrisantus Nwabueze Korie, nothing was achieved.

“Despite my best efforts, the police would not investigate his murder and did everything to obstruct,” Madu said.

“I also helped to petition a committee of Nigeria’s National Assembly to probe the killing and report back to the House within a timely manner.”