Nigerian Citizens Continue Protests to End SARS and Police Brutality in Nigeria.
At that moment I think something snapped in Nigerians across the world, knowing too well how his heart must have raced when confronted, knowing he did everything he could have to save his life. At that moment Nigerians decided to push back against the extortion, against the murder and arbitrary arrests. Over the past couple of weeks #EndSARS has become a cry that personifies the fight of the Nigerian people against harassment and police brutality.
Police brutality is a plague that oppresses citizens across the world. Public officials that we appoint to protect the daily lives of our people and enforce law and order, seem to have lettered “abuse of power” in their mission statements. At times, the focus of police brutality remains in the United States, a seemingly well-constructed nation that retains its racial prejudice against Black and Brown people. Just 6,600 miles away, Nigeria faces one of the greatest plights of oppression and police brutality the world has ever seen.
Imagine walking down the street or driving down the highway with your friends; you’re stopped, without warrant, by aggressive, casually dressed officers, badged with AK’s and AR-15 styled rifles. Immediately they start questioning you about your clothes, insinuating that if you are too nicely dressed you must be involved in illegal activity. Noting that you may have money, they demand to see your phone, threatening to arrest or kill you if you refuse to wire them money. Women are asked to raise their dresses or disrobe and subject to public sexual assault, bodies are often slain for refusal and nobody is held accountable for the death of a “criminal”. These are the experiences of tens of thousands of Nigerians at the hands of a tactical unit called SARS. The Special Anti-Robbery Squad, better known as “SARS” was officially launched in 1992 by Simeon Danladi to control the outbreak of violent crimes taking place in Lagos, Nigeria. Instead, over the past several decades, they have become the ones we fear, they are the offender and the executioner. They have continued their reputation of terrorizing the Nigerian people, abusing their power to murder, harass and steal from our citizens.
On October 3, 2020, a video surfaced on social media that sparked a surge of outrage among the Nigerian people. The video begins with a young man approached by SARS officials, the video ends with the unprovoked shooting and killing of the young boy, leaving him for dead in the streets. At that moment I think something snapped in Nigerians across the world, knowing too well how his heart must have raced when confronted, knowing he did everything he could have to save his life. At that moment Nigerians decided to push back against the extortion, against the murder and arbitrary arrests. Over the past couple of weeks #EndSARS has become a cry that personifies the fight of the Nigerian people against harassment and police brutality.
Honestly, at that point I wanted to leave, but I saw women and men walking towards the flood from the hose and kneeling in front of it, they started to create a shield with each other. I felt protected, at least if I die, I die for good- not to be a coward. Imagine seeing bodies on the street to the point where you don’t even want to go to work, I don’t want my children out at night. Everyday in this country we face death, not by criminals but SARS, the police, our own government! At this point I know I will die either way, I am not afraid to die by their hand any longer, I will die for my people.
Over the course of the past couple of weeks, Nigerians unify to collectively call for the disbanding of the SARS tactical unit and the reformation of the police. Celebrities such as Davido and Wizkid, join hands across social media and on the ground to hold the Nigerian government accountable for the gross neglect and oppression of the people and for change. I spoke with two protesters, whose names will be withheld at their request for the matter of safety. In this interview, they go on to tell me what the atmosphere is like at the protests in Nigeria and the tension that exists right now between the people and police officials.
Can you tell me what happened on the day you went to the protest in Abuja?
Temi:
You can just call me Temi, I will be Temi for the day. On Friday, October 9th I went with my brother to Abuja for the protest. We were there for maybe about 20 minutes before we started to hear what we thought were gunshots. I turned to my brother and saw that the protesters behind us were charging towards us full speed. The next thing I saw was smoke, I turned back around to run but I couldn’t find my brother, so I sat there. My eyes began to burn, and my lungs felt like they were on fire. People were literally running over you, running for their lives. I ended up with a large gash on my head because someone ran into me with their phone in an attempt to record the gassing. It was scary, I ended up having to leave my post to get out of the gas cloud so I could see. Crazy to think people were running into traffic amongst cars coming half speed to get away from the police. We did nothing to provoke them. They are many, they are armed, we have signs and ourselves and they are still violent. We are not the ones with automatic weapons, there is nothing for us to throw, we just want to be heard.
Redacted:
I am not afraid for myself, but I have children you see, and my children should not be punished for my actions. I don’t need a name- I am just me, just here to tell my story. On Sunday there was a protest at the capital, Abuja. I heard of the events that have been taking place across the cities and how the protests have mainly turned violent. I was not afraid, I am just angry for my people. People were chanting so loudly on Sunday you would have almost missed the shower of warning shots that rolled out of the air. At that point people started to panic because they thought they were shooting at us. Half of the protesters began to run when we noticed a cloud of smoke coming towards us, shortly after we were dashed with floods of water. There was a large tank and the officers were steady dowsing us with water from the front and gas from the side. It was chaotic, I thought to myself, they really want to kill us. Honestly, at that point I wanted to leave, but I saw women and men walking towards the flood of the hose and kneeling in front of it, they started to create a shield with each other. I felt protected, at least if I die, I die for good- not to be a coward. Imagine seeing bodies on the street to the point where you don’t even want to go to work, I don’t want my children out at night. Everyday in this country we face death, not by criminals but SARS, the police, our own government! At this point I know I will die either way, I am not afraid to die by their hand any longer, I will die for my people.
On October 11th, IGP official Mohammed Adamu, announced that SARS has been disbanded and is to be replaced with a more refined tactical unit called SWAT. The Nigerian people know this performative dance too well, to replace one corrupt unit without systemic reformation, fails to hold the government accountable for the ways they have failed the people. It fails to remind the police officials and tactical squads, that they are public servants and have an obligation to the citizens of Nigeria. The calls for reform and protest will not end until the cries of the Nigerian people have been heard. The world has tuned into the atrocities that many face everyday in this country, and the officials that go without reprimand.
