SARS: 20.10.2020
The 20th of October, 2020 will always be remembered. The ‘End SARS’ movement did not just commence this year. Police brutality has been prevalent for many years, however, in 2017 Nigerians began asking for a reform, peacefully. In all twenty-three years I’ve been alive, I have never seen this many Nigerians (including those in diaspora) unite toward the achievement of a goal. When we were asleep, they were awake, keeping the hashtag trending. The diamond in the rough was the unity that blossomed amongst Nigerians.
The year 2020 opened many eyes to the injustice that heavily prevailed in the Nigerian society. The most appalling aspect of the injustice is the fact that those who were entrenched with the responsibility to prevent injustice were the ones spearheading it. This fact alone caused Nigerians to take it upon themselves to ensure that the system be reformed. The tremendous number of lives lost in 2020 amidst the incompetence of the government caused the movement to take an even more aggravated tone. Courageous and outstanding individuals took it upon themselves to curate demands that represent the interests of Nigerians and address the issue from its root.
The Demands for Reform:
1. Immediate release of all arrested protesters
2. Justice for all deceased victims of police brutality and appropriate compensation for their families
3. Setting up an independent body to oversee the investigation and prosecution of all reports of police misconduct (within 10days)
4. In line with the new Police Act, psychological evaluation and retraining (to be confirmed by an independent body) of all disbanded SARS officers before they can be redeployed.
5. Increase in Police salary to ensure that they are adequately compensated for protecting lives and property of citizens.
During the cause of the protests, funds were contributed which amounted to 147,855,788.28 naira. The level of accountability of the funds contributed was impeccable, thanks to Feminist Coalition team and FK Abudu.
The government formed the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in 1992 to help fight against robbery, theft, kidnapping and criminal activity, but that has not been the result since its establishment. The idea that a young citizen within the age range age of 18 to 30 cannot own a car, an iPhone, dress to their capacity and luxury in the country is mind boggling. I am very afraid knowing this is the mentality of the officials. I am also afraid because of the experiences of others and even myself with extortion, knowing that others have lost their lives as a result of contact with SARS. This demonstrates the impunity enjoyed by the officers.
Another sad part about this is how the government has not said anything meaningful and the police officials that have killed innocent citizens are still walking freely without being punished. Innocent lives have been lost and the youths cannot keep quiet for too long. They have killed our brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, friends, our school mates for no good reason. The Special Anti-Robbery squad have caused more harm than good to Nigeria without any argument.
Tony Zitta, a promising young lad, who organizes events was on his way back home after a show in Abuja. All the proceeds from the show were with him and on his way home, he got hit by a politician. The police came around and instead of arresting the man, they let him escape, stole the money that was in Tony’s car and left the young man to die.
Anita Akapson, a staff of the national emergency management agency was driving out of her home on the 13th of October 2018 at Katampe extension and was shot by a police officer. DSP Inagozie Godwin was said to have shot Miss Akapson at close range while she sat inside her car. She died a few hours after she was rushed to a nearby hospital in Gwarinpa and the statement by the police force headquarters explained the officer shot her because he thought she was an armed robber escaping from the scene of a crime (a case of mistaken identity). The case has been in court from 2018 till date.
Chijioke who was just 20 years old in 2012, went for a child dedication and was picked up from the event to be taken to the SARS office. When his family went looking for him, they were told he was taken to the headquarters. His parents spotted him when they went to get him, but they were pushed out of the police station. When they went back for further investigation, the police officer in charge boasted about shooting Chijioke and there being nothing anyone can do about it.
His parents attempted to secure his release by offering the police officer some money, but the officer claimed it was too small! The father went ahead to sell his land and properties and he was able to raise 3 million to give the officer and the evil officer called it “chicken change”. The officer made Chijioke’s dad look for his son’s body in a pool of dead bodies. These SARS officers do not have a heart! That’s Inhumane! These are just 3 stories and there are thousands of cases like these. Youths leave their houses to go to work, go out with their friends but never go back home to meet their parents. To this day, some parents don’t know what happened to their children! How disheartening!
Jimoh Isiaq. Ayomide Taiwo. Precious Odua. Tony Oruama. Emmanuel Egbo. Kolade Johnson. Ifeanyi Ozor. Miracle. Sunday. Chinedu Ani. Richard Gora. Harry Ataria. Femi Bello. Anthony Nwokike. Ifeoma Abugu. Joy Ndubueze. Johnson Nnaemeka. Onovo Matthew. Augustina Arebu. These are a few victims of police brutality out of thousands. We will always remember their names.
The president came on to talk after two weeks of the peaceful protest and the Lekki toll gate massacre. To be honest, many Nigerians wished he stayed mute. He came on national tv and did not acknowledge the massacre that happened on the 20th of October, 2020. He simply just sympathized with soldiers that have lost their lives in the cause of everything that has been going on. I was honestly gutted, filled with so much rage but at the same time filled with pity and fear. If we, the youths do not win this fight now, we are done for! The Special Anti-Robbery Squad will come back stronger with more killings, theft, rape, kidnapping and so much more. I fear for Nigeria and the lives in it.
We asked for the disbandment of SARS and the government formed another group called Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT). They claimed that the same officials that were in SARS would be transferred to the new group and to the government. I’m oblivious to the reason why it’s difficult for the government to their job, the bare minimum of protecting us and our interests. The government is for the people but in our reality, the government is really for the government. It’s already bad enough that Nigeria is known as the most corrupt nation and yet it keeps getting worse. The government of Nigeria has the poorest economy but has the highest paid politicians. The level of corruption is severe and deeply rooted.
The government tried their very best to disrupt the protests several times. The first time was when they became suspicious of the funds gathered and said it might have been gotten illegally and they tried to sue Flutter Wave, but we started using another means, Bitcoin. They realized that they could not win that fight, so they proceeded to send thugs to disrupt our protests, attack youths, burn cars, steal and eventually ended up killing some youths. Some of these thugs were caught and later questioned and it was discovered that they were paid 1,500 naira to disrupt protests. A measly amount to lose their lives while they (the government) sit on trillions of naira! The reason to why they were perpetrating these vicious acts against their citizens is simply corruption!
The Lekki toll gate massacre was a total disaster that we never saw coming. Curfews were put in place in Lagos but this was announced by 12pm which was very late for a lot of protesters to get to their homes as Lagos traffic can be so time consuming. Protesters at the toll gate sat peacefully and sang throughout. The Cameras were removed, an order given by the government, the lights at the toll gate were turned off and suddenly, soldiers opened fire at protesters but, thank God for social media because a certain celebrity went live and showed what was really happening and how people were struggling to stay alive after being shot. It was so painful to watch. It is so unfortunate that the government really came out to say that nothing like that happened. I will definitely say, “it is the audacity for me”. I have so much hope that we will win this fight.
Thanks to the awareness that has been going on all around the whole world by many celebrities and individuals, the relentless protests going on by Nigerians in Diaspora, having our own emoji when we use the hashtag #ENDSARS on twitter all thanks to Jack Dorsey. We do not have a system in Nigeria. This fight literally just started, and we will win!
It’s very sad to be in a country where the government turns a blind eye to the well-being of its citizens, a country where soldiers open fire at unarmed peaceful protesters, a country where the government prefers its COVID-19 palliatives to be locked away, get spoiled or get expired rather than give it out to hungry Nigerians who cannot afford to feed themselves. This is a country where a massacre happened and the government said nothing like it never happened and when videos were pulled out depicting the Lekki massacre, the government said it cannot be used in court! How?! This is a country where people are being killed by police officials for just breathing. This is just a tip of the iceberg as to what has been happening.
I want a better Nigeria with a better government, better leaders. So, let’s start from here: WHO ORDERED THE LEKKI TOLL GATE SHOOTINGS?
Written by Gyosmen Dangana
Hi, I'm Gyosmen, Born and raised in Nigeria. I studied International Relations at Covenant University. I'm also an influencer & Youtuber.