#EndSARS: The Start Of A Marathon.

Nigeria wakes up at the count of 60.

INTRODUCTION.

If you wanted to irk me some weeks ago, all you had to do was talk about the state of my country.

I had given up on Nigeria about 6 years ago. I was what you would call patriotic till I got into the university. The evident rot of the system spilled into sectors and just made me lose hope.

During the last Presidential election, I couldn’t stop asking why we were still at the point of picking between two bad choices. Despite all the other contestants, it was like an unspoken rule who the game was between. For the longest time, my chant became just to survive and leave the country.

On the 6th of October, Folarin Falana aka Falz had put out a tweet stating it was enough and he was going for a peaceful protest to speak out against SARS on the 8th of October. This was after a young man in southern Delta state had been killed by SARS officials 3 days earlier. One of the tragic deaths caused by SARS in the last couple of years.

A BRIEF HISTORY.

The Special Anti-Robbery Squad has an interesting history. A police officer named Simeon Danladi Midenda was in charge of the anti-robbery unit in Benin. Due to his success in combating armed robbery, he was recommended by the then inspector general of police to combat the increasing crime rate in Lagos.

Midenda was then tasked with uniting the three existing anti-robbery squads. This he did and gave rise to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in 1992.

It’s a case of the anti-dote becoming poison. In the early days of the unit, officers were combat-ready and operated undercover in plain clothes and plain vehicles without any security or government insignia and did not carry arms in public.

By 2002, like a virus, SARS spread to all 36 states of the country as well as the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. It also became one of the 14 units under the Nigerian Police Force and was charged with the arrest, investigation, and prosecution of suspected armed robbers, murderers, kidnappers, hired assassins, and other suspected violent criminals.

Then came the scary part. Officers started to carry arms in public.

According to Aljazeera news, in 2016, Amnesty International visited one of the SARS detention centers in Abuja. 130 detainees were found living in overcrowded cells and regularly subjected to methods of torture including hanging, starvations, beatings, shootings, and mock executions.

PEOPLE’S STORIES.

Let us not neglect the fact that the heart of man is wicked. When you add to that a lawless community, you have the recipe for disaster.

The Nigerian youths have been profiled for as long as I can remember. “You mean in your country; you can be held at gunpoint for having dreads and tattoos?” YES. The SARS officials reportedly would stop a young man on the road and harass him for just his looks. They could ask for his phones and check messages, all the while being done by a trigger-happy SARS official. The blatant disrespect of life is so much that officers have boldly told victims “I go shoot you and nothing go happen” (I will shoot you and nothing will happen).

At this point, I doubt we’re truly under a democracy. You know it’s bad when people would rather meet with armed robbers than their police. Stories of the victims are an eye-opener for the level of injustice and you can check them here.

OUR RESPONSE.

I’ve been stopped at police checkpoints this “holiday” alone by officers with protruding bellies stretching one hand beckoning for weekend money with AK47s on the other hand.

From the 8th of October, peaceful protesters made their voices heard. The phrase Soro soke (speak louder in Yoruba) became popular on Twitter. For nearly two weeks, the youths modeled something, which for a lack of a better word, I’ll simply say beautiful.

Gathering funds for food, bail, and health services. People were bonding despite religion and tribe. If you know anything about Nigeria’s diversity, that would make you tear up because our differences have been used by politicians to “divide and conquer”. For the first time in a long while, Nigerians stood unshakable with just one voice. You may not understand the impact, but I had never been proud to be Nigerian than in those moments. Our hearts beat in unison at the pump of such hope.

Volunteer lawyers bailed people across the states. The Feminist Coalition was so transparent with the funds gained and disbursed, billboards were set up, people even contributed millions of naira for a lady’s prostheses, health care workers were on standby and people prayed. These actions and countless more goodwill showed by the youths once called “lazy” were the little victories.

For once, mentioning Nigeria stopped bringing me nauseous feelings.

One highlight for me was the candle procession on Friday 16th October. It brought tears to my eyes seeing the videos where thousands of people had come together to commemorate the lives that had been rudely taken by SARS. Just listening to the heart-breaking stories of relatives of victims, I couldn’t imagine that this was indeed people’s reality and we were not even safe in our own country. No! That sealed it for my resolve.

“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.”- Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor, writer, and political activist.

PROTESTS IN NIGERIA.

Why did Nigerians take to the streets to protest? All we wanted was for our government to be humane enough to end the concept of SARS, compensate the families by meting out justice to the accused officers. We also benevolent and demanded that the police be well-remunerated so they could stop extorting citizens. Seems fair you might say, but guess what? We were laughed at (literally too).

Nigeria has had a lot of protests in times past. This is for my folks who are mad at the “older generation”. Trust me, I was too till I read more. Granted, most accepted defeat and continued to move on, but it was due to a lot of factors. What about us who after listening to the speech by Buhari on Thursday felt gut-wrenching defeat? We don’t want to make the same mistake hence we continue. My point is, this isn’t the first time Nigerians spoke up about a social issue lest you don’t give credit to those who fought before.

What played a huge role in the present Nigerians is our unity and use of social media to amplify our voices. The world began to take notice and our neighboring countries stood up for us. Even our brothers and sisters in the diaspora took the mantle.

20–10–2020.

The actions of our leaders show they don’t value human lives. It is not until unarmed civilians are shot at. They steal the funds meant for roads thereby increasing the chances of road accidents or the money meant to refurbish hospitals hence the shortage of basic amenities needed to save lives. The average Nigerian dreams of leaving Nigeria because it doesn’t feel like home despite being plastered the identity at birth.

Tuesday 20th October is one day Nigerians would never forget (at least I hope we never forget). Just 12 days since the start of what had now become almost the nationwide protest to end SARS.

According to reports, it all started as a normal day for the protesters. The antics of the government also seemed to be going strong. Some supposed prisoners had left Benin prison to infiltrate the protests at Benin. Bear in mind that these prisoners did their “prison break” with no resistance. How that happened is still one of the many unresolved issues we have to date.

Anyways, it was obvious that the forces were out to discredit our peaceful protests. Here in Lagos, hoodlums and thugs were reportedly paid to harass peaceful protesters and scatter the protests. For the protesters, nothing could deter us.

That fateful morning, the governor of Lagos state put on Twitter a curfew. What amazes me is that the announcement was made on Twitter. For context, Lagos is made up of over 14 million people. Catch this cruise as Falz would say, the announcement was made by 11:40 a.m. and it was to start by 4 pm!

By 2 pm, I had started seeing videos and pictures of people being tortured and killed around Mushin, a suburb of Lagos. Other parts had started experiencing unrest even before the 4 pm curfew. While we were all tweeting, sending messages to loved ones, friends, and even foes, our eyes stopped at Lekki.

The protesters at Lekki toll gate had decided to defy the 4 pm curfew. Before 4 pm, some men were seen to take down the cameras at the scene. According to the state Governor, those were no CCTV cameras, but motion sensor cameras. It still doesn’t make sense to anyone because this was not the first time Lagos was under a curfew. Why this time? To make matters worse, the sources of light were switched off. This is a place where power is always uninterrupted, curfew or not. Tensions began to rise but our brave comrades were unwavering.

By 7 pm, eyewitnesses saw armed men in the Nigerian army uniform.

Then came the gunshots! Firing into the air and, hold your breath, at people. Thankfully people like DJ switch began to document the horrible situation live via Instagram to have witnesses. Over a hundred thousand people including news channels like CNN were witnesses to the display of violence. Some of the local news channels reported that the gunshots were to disperse the peaceful protesters. But I wonder if other forms of dispersing defiant protesters were missing that night that they resorted to using live bullets. Is the penalty for breaking a curfew death? Why were armed officials killing unarmed civilians whose only crime was to ask for their right to life?

MYSTERY.

Who gave the orders? I know some men didn’t just wake up and decide to go shoot at civilians. Who put off the sources of light? Why take down the cameras, whatever the type? Why deny that lives were not lost when people saw bodies carted away in the tanks of the armed forces? To make matters worse, other parts of the state were recording deaths, injuries and so much unrest. It was one heck of a long night!

Grief overwhelmed me. I cried my eyes out, picked up my phone to stay informed, and cried again. I was numb for minutes with helplessness. Mentally, I tried to put myself in the shoes of the relatives of our comrades. I thought of all the smiles and hugs those people shared with their relatives before leaving. I thought of the homes that would never be the same.

People holding the national flag and singing the anthem while being shot at by those who were supposed to defend them. It is grossly inhumane to me. Where does one begin to start?

HOW THE FIGHT LOOKS LIKE NOW.

Presently the curfew in Lagos has been relaxed and one thing I do know is, the race has just begun. That shouldn’t terrify but encourage you.

Here are my suggestions for how we continue to fight.

1. Tell the story.

No better way to keep memories than talking about it. That could take different forms. If you’re a writer, pen those words. If you’re an artist, draw, speak, sing. If you’re a teacher, share. This isn’t exhaustive. In any case, don’t keep silent.

2. Get involved at the grassroots.

Get more involved with the state of affairs in your locality. This is the hardest for me because I would rather the easier route of not caring about what happens. Yet, this movement has shown me that if I want things to get better, it is now my business.

3. Educate everyone around you.

I’ve been seeing pictures of some banners put in areas where people can see it. Accountability truly begins with us and how do we want to achieve these goals if the vast majority don’t know what we’re talking about? We have a responsibility to teach those who may not be accessible on social media, the “area” boys or supposed hoodlums, our parents and siblings who would be eligible to vote come 2023. Let us grow with them instead of maligning anyone.

4. My personal favorite- Invest in you.

This involves knowing history, learning about the constitution, and how politics works here. I’m grateful for those who are making educational pieces via social media to increase the level of awareness. That way, you understand things for yourself.

MY THOUGHTS.

The major reason I don’t see myself backing down is justice for those image-bearers who died on 20th October 2020. They believed that we deserved better and risked their lives.

In this fight, Nigerians must remain focused. Truth be told the little victories are coming up, but we remain steadfast. While doing so, please take out time to rest. I keep preaching this because breakdowns are very unique and it’s someone well that can fight for others.

I don’t want #ENDSARS to end up as a trend. For years it stayed that way till the eyes of the youths opened. If not for the chant that we had had enough, it probably would still be the same story on Twitter and we continue suffering and smiling. I want more people to see and be informed. I look forward to a society where people would not look away when our neighbors are in trouble because e no consign me (Nigerian slang for “it’s not my business”).

Until then, in any way and form: #ENDSARS #ENDSARSNOW