#Endsars: The Night That Can Never Be Forgotten {20–10–2020}
It was a briskly cold evening in the highly-tensed city of Lagos as thousands of young protesters had occupied strategic locations in protest against police brutality and extortion. The unprecedented Nationwide #Endsars protest was closing in a fortnight. For a moment, all eyes were on Nigeria. Lagos was the centre of the action and Lekki Tollgate became the sensation of the protest for several reasons but violence. The entertainment, the security, the popular participation among others are the reasons Lekki Tollgate became the centre of focus for everyone.
No doubt, this display of courage sent shivers down the spine of the ruling elites and corrupt authorities. All attempts to disrupt and hijack the protests at different times and locations were foiled. Videos in circulation showed thugs being ushered into corporate cars by men dressed in suits. Pictures in circulation also showed clearly identifiable thugs wielding cutlasses against protesters. These and many more were the oddities that characterized the #Endsars protest before the 20th of October. Another video earlier circulated that day had also shown officials of the Lekki Concession Company(LCC) removing cameras from Lekki Toll Gate hours before the light was taken out and the firing started. If anything, this sequence of events shows that everything that happened that night wasn’t a coincidence. Definitely, it was a well-calculated event carried out by “powers beyond control” as Governor Sanwo-Olu rightly said in the wake of the massacre.
The horrible scenes of cries and shouts in the dark from live-streamed sources will always live rent-free in our heads. The sounds from the bullet as they were shot into the crowd of protesters will always ring in our ears. The shameless denial of the massacre by authorities and their cyber soldiers despite overwhelming forensic records and geolocation tracing,
At this point, it is important to recall the demands of the protest which is highlighted below;
The demands of the protest
- Immediate release of all arrested protesters (Over 300 EndSARS protesters are still locked up across the country without access to legal representation)
- Justice for all deceased victims of police brutality and appropriate compensations for their families. (Most Judicial panels didn’t come to a logical conclusion, as some of them suspended seating indefinitely)
- Setting up an independent body to oversee the investigation and prosecution of all reported police misconduct within a period of 10 days ( This is still a mirage, even after a whole year )
- Carrying out psychological evaluation and retaining of all disbanded SARS operatives before they can be deployed (this should be verified by an independent body). (In the heat of the protests, the government hurriedly started SWAT which was rumoured to take over the disbanded SARS unit, and also was touted to be the better-reformed police division to tackle crimes, till today, no one has seen them come to fruition)
- The government should increase police salary and they should be adequately compensated for protecting the lives and property of the citizens (June 10, 2021, President Buhari directed the increase in salary for the police while he disclosed that he has directed the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC) to carry out an upward review of salaries of policemen. A promise it remains)
What has changed?
After a whole year, have these promises been fulfilled? Well, I stand to be corrected, however, it does not seem to look like it!
I say this because, despite the lessons from the EndSars protests across the country, Police brutality has not stopped. Counting the numbers, between November 2020 and October 2021, there have been over 100 cases of persons killed extrajudicially, brutalized illegally and detained by security agencies (Source: guardian.ng)
I’ll tell you one of my own numerous stories, not a palatable one I must say as this singular experience and many more have left me with PTSD which I fear I must deal with all the rest of my life.
“I will shoot you and nothing will happen.” the gun-toting policeman threatened.
It was 2016; I was a young fresh-faced Nigerian graduate being “profiled” by a police officer. My bag, phone and laptop were ransacked.
“How do you know these white people?” “How are you able to afford a phone made by Samsung”
“I just finished a programme with the UK’s Volunteers from the United Kingdom, Voluntary Service Overseas,” I responded, this allowed me to have on my phone numerous group pictures which clearly had me in them. Leading to this conversation, I and a couple of 5 other young men who were also passengers of the public bus coming in from Ibadan going to Ilorin who were asked to alight in the middle of a bush around “eye korin” with our loads dropped from the bus. We were left there to our fate! Any attempt to answer questions asked were followed with heavy slaps, we were asked to sit on the floor like convicts and right in my presence, two guys were already handcuffed. Taking my time to explain, the heavily armed SARS officer insisted I follow him to the station, remembering how gory the stories from SARS abattoirs and people getting missing at the police stations, I just could not take the chance! Explanations were not cutting it anymore, calls were not allowed, and we were practically under arrest for close to two hours, and it was as if all was over! Some of the young men who could not take the beating and calmly explain themselves were cuffed to the back of the van. In sobs, wondering what my offence could have been while trying to make sure the lives of the children living in underserved communities in Ikorodu could be better was all I had in my head. I kept asking myself a series of questions I couldn’t provide answers to. Seeing that the two of us had been totally defeated, they asked us to go, but trust me, we didn’t leave without emptying our pockets under the guise of fueling the police van packed at the checkpoint. While trying to pack my load, flashes of how people get shut at the back and get labelled running or escaping kept playing in my head, I had to ask the SARS officer, “Please, are you sure you have allowed me to leave? Please, let me have your word, I am not running away and I am not a criminal” he shouted! O boy! pack your load and leave. Remember, I have dropped all the cash I had on me, there was no possible way to pay for a cab to get me into town, amidst sobs, I begged him to stop a bus so I could be taken to town! Long story short, that was just one of the very traumatic experiences I had with the SARS officers. I can’t say I was lucky at all times and this is because no Nigerian should be treated in such a disgraceful manner at any time.
Anytime I remember my experiences, I always ask, why does the system hate young Nigerians? I asked again, why is aggression always transferred to the younger generation! I mean, we are not the politicians who have decided to plunder the commonwealth of the nation, why are we always at the receiving end of the stick! I am sure, my questions resonated in the minds of many other Nigerians and they decided to say this period last year “Enough is Enough'' This and many more factors led to the #EndSars protests across the country. I must say, that was the very first time in my entire life that I have seen Nigerians unite on a singular mission without fear or favour, prejudices or distractions.
I can’t forget a day myself and my boss, Oluseun Onigbinde, were travelling from Lagos to Ibadan, while in traffic, some armed men passed by our vehicle and I could see he was visibly scared, he asked “Iyanuoluwa, who are these people, I responded and said those are the dreaded SARS police officers” he went on to say how poorly dressed, how shabby they looked and also how it should never be a standard of policing, it was there I shared numerous stories with him.
In my own little space
While Managing Civic Hive, I had the opportunity to host community spaces, which we now have on Twitter, where people come in to speak about issues that are bordering in the country. Police brutality was really close to my heart, having gone through some traumatic experiences myself, I saw an increasing need for people to have platforms to tell their stories. In partnership with Citizens Gavel, a civic tech start-up that was incubated at Civic Hive, we would host these sessions. In these meetings, we always had representatives from the Police, Civil Societies and the general public. What these conversations did for us was, apart from giving people a platform to collate and share their experiences, we also had the opportunity to address some issues by providing legal counsel. We were able to get some heads-up from the representatives of the police by understanding the structural challenges even the commission faces themselves. This information helped us to navigate some very difficult situations and I must say however hard, we were able to record some successes. We made sure to provide education to all citizens using our platforms to keep them further abrest why we had to protest and what we needed to achieve with the protests.
While at it, we must never forget that Nigerians waving the Nigerian flag were KILLED at the lekki toll gate by the Nigerian security operatives! I watched the live stream which was shared by DJ switch, I couldn’t eat for two days straight! I was messed up. The second day across Mushin, Ebutte Meta & Adekunle axis of Lagos state, different viral videos were all over the internet of officers using unarmed citizens as shooting range! Lagos and some other parts of the country was a war Zone for days.
What do we want?
“We just want to live a good life! We just want to flourish and not be victims of police brutality”!
That has been the takes from Nigerians across all social media platforms. For example, I did a poll on twitter and I asked a very simple question
The poll got 22 responses, however, coupled with the fear that a lot of Nigerian youths carry about, a lot of us actually need therapy.
As we mark the one year anniversary of the infamous #LekkiMassacre of our friends, comrades and colleagues. It’s impossible not to recognize the work of good men/women of the Police, however, the bag eggs are just too much and we can’t completely reform the institution as it is. A lot of Nigerians agree to scrap the present structure of the police.
In the meantime, Nigeria should focus on community/state policing, and allow restructuring take hold and it does not threaten the unity of the country.
Nigeria! We can’t afford to back down now, “an injury to one is an injury to all” ~David C
The system hates a united front, the people at the helm of power know this! Let’s remain unified and fight for our fellow comrades everywhere we might find ourselves in Nigeria. I belive one day, Nigeria will truly mean more than a mere geographical representation.
20–10–2021.
In the loving memory of the dead, wounded, maimed and exiled! You are remembered today and your sacrifices are not taken for granted.
#EndSarsMemorial
#EndPoliceBrutality
#EndImpunity
