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There is a social movement occurring in Nigeria and parts of the United States. The movement known as #EndSARS started as a hashtag on Twitter calling for the abolishment of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), due to police oppression and brutality.
This came after a viral video of two young Nigerian men being dragged from a hotel in Lagos in which one of them was gunned down by SARS. It was alleged that the officers stole the young man’s vehicle, a Lexus SUV, while the man was left for dead. From there, protesters have taken their outcries and anger to the streets of Nigeria and the United States, which led to a growing list of celebrities who have shown support such as Kanye West, Diddy, Jack Dorsey, Drake, Trey Songz, Wiz Kid, and many more. With the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement protesting against systematic racism and police brutality, it only makes sense for the world to support the #EndSARS movement.
People in Nigeria are going through the same issues that the Black community in the United States is facing: oppression and police brutality. Both movements are carrying the same message. SARS was founded by Nigerian police force in 1992, the purpose was to combat violent crimes such as robberies and kidnappings. However, for the past few decades, there have been a high number of murders, assault, harassment, rape, etc. committed by SARS. According to the Wall Street Journal, a 2016 report from the African Studies Centre at the University of Leiden states that when Nigerian police officers are dealing with a physical altercation, they kill someone 58 percent of the time. Amnesty International stated in a report titled Time to End Impunity, that there were at least 82 cases documented that deals with incidents of torture, execution, extortion, and unfair treatment by SARS between January 2017 and May 2020. The victims are predominantly males between the ages of 18 and 35 coming from low-income backgrounds.
Despite the 2017 Anti-Torture Act which supposes to “penalize the acts of torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and prescribe penalties for such acts,” the growing patterns of abuse and torture have continued and are not getting any better. This explains why Nigerians are currently protesting and the #EndSARS movement is trending. People are angry and tired of the constant abuse and mistreatment from authorities who suppose to protect and serve citizens. Due to the growing demonstrations, on October 11th, the government decided to dissolve the SARS unit and adopt numerous measures to investigate the cases of abuse committed by SARS and seek compensation for the victims. In addition, it was announced that there will be a new unit called the Special Weapons and Tactics team (SWAT) to partly replace SARS.
Despite the abolishment, protesters are still marching in the streets calling for police reform. There was a recent backlash towards Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari after he urged citizens to end the protests and be patient. Many people complained about Buhari not addressing the issue of the brutality that the citizens face as well as not taking any form of action. According to the news site, Vanguard along with an article titled, “What Buhari promised Nigerians,” President Buhari stated in his promise that he believes “that our politics is broken. Our nation urgently needs fundamental political reform and improvement in governance more transparency and accountable.” It is clear that the issue of police brutality hasn’t been tackled by the president and that it only gets worse during his tenure. The Washington Post columnist, Innanoshe R.A. said it best: “#EndSars shows that Mahammadu Bahari is the biggest threat to Nigeria’s democracy,” he stated,. “We blindly toss a coin into the air — with no guarantee of what we get. We vote out one corrupt leader for an even more corrupt one. Or, as we like to say, “you go from the frying pan into the fire.”
Although the #EndSARS movement is still ongoing with a greater purpose, there are a few people who say that the protests need to stop. According to an article in Vanguard News titled “Northern Elders asks youth to end #EndSars protests,” the Northern Elders Forum advised the anti-SARS protesters to end the protests. They expressed their fears of the agitation coming from the youth that can possibly put other people’s lives in danger. The forum also asked the President and 36 states to take action into reducing the tensions of the youth. According to a statement from the Northern Elders Forum in the article, “It was particularly noteworthy that young Nigerians led these protests in its early stages, and the Forum acknowledges the heroism of these young people who stood up to say, enough! We have also noted that tragically, some people have lost their lives in these protests.” The forum then adds, “Unfortunately, it now appears that other interests have taken over these protests and are compounding our collective security. Like most Nigerians, the Forum is alarmed at criminal acts such as attacks on specific persons, emptying prisons, molesting innocent citizens, and attacking policemen. We are very concerned that these acts of criminality suggest that other interests with criminal intent or subversive goals have taken over these protests.”
Although the Northern Elders Forum’s concerns are reasonable, however, citizens in Nigeria have the right to protest. They can no longer stay silent on issues that have been affecting them for a long time. The majority of the protests in Nigeria have been peaceful and the police units are already attacking them which left 56 people dead, 38 of them on October 20th according to an article titled “End SARS: At least 12 killed by government forces as anti-police brutality protests continue in Nigeria” on Sky News. Why tell the youth to end the protests when they will still be subjected to violence?
