P.R.O.T.E.S.T

Nigeria is a nation that has been plagued by many issues rising from insecurity down to poor infrastructure. There is only so much the citizens of a nation can take when they are constantly burdened by many problems and this is intensified when their cries are not heard.

 The electorate in a democracy deserve the right to express their opinions and feelings when the government and its various policies and agencies do not seem to yield favorable results to the benefit of her citizens. 

The 2020 #ENDSARS protest was the response of the citizens of Nigeria to the many issues that were not properly handled or taken care of by the government. 

When we take a look at this nation, it is clear for everyone to see that we are very far from the projections made by many international and national economic, political and civil groups. 

This giant of Africa seemed to be a façade and a chimera causing many citizens to lose faith in the integrity of the country. Many things have gone wrong for this nation following the failures of the present administration and this has caused a ripple effect that shook the resolve of many Nigerians both young and old, rich and poor.

The annals of history will always bear a record that a once great and vibrant nation was under siege and something had to be done about it. The powers that be had never realized how much these problems were antagonizing the good citizens, stirring in them all sort of emotions and feelings. They were constantly being battered and bruised by the harsh economic condition in Nigeria.

Prior to the protest young Nigerians have complained about the unfair treatment and bulling from the special anti-robbery squad (SARS)         

For years, the unit has been accused of abuse, misuse of power and unlawful arrests of young Nigerians assumed to be ‘‘yahoo boys‘‘ without evidence.

SARS officers are known for extorting young Nigerians especially males for driving exotic cars, using iPhones and expensive gadgets.

Amnesty international; a non-governmental organization focused on human rights preservation has since documented series of allegations involving the unit.

Between January 2017 and May 2020 it was reported that at least eighty alleged cases of ill treatment, torture and extra-judicial killings by SARS has been documented by them.

‘‘ 24 year old, Sunday Bang, was allegedly held in detention in 2018 for five weeks, without access to family, medical care or lawyers.

Where he suffered bone fractures and other injuries due to torture and other ill treatment after being accused of robbery ‘‘

In March 2017, 23-year-old Miracle shared with amnesty international how he was arrested and detained by SARS officers in Neni, Anambra State (southeast Nigeria)

accused of the theft of a laptop. He was tortured and detained for 40 days without proper feeding before he was brought to a court.  

‘‘…they took me to the back of the hall and tied me with ropes. Then they started using all manner of items to beat me, including machetes, sticks inflicting on me all kinds of injuries. 

One of the officers used an exhaust pipe to hit me on my teeth, breaking my teeth, I was left on that hanger for more than three hours ‘‘

Few of the things that triggered the October protest was a video that trended on twitter allegedly showing SARS officers shooting a young man in front of wetland hotel, Ughelli, Delta state, Then pushing his body out of the car and driving off with the dead man‘s car ( Lexus SUV). The man who filmed the video was said to be arrested, authorities said the video was not real.

Aforementioned was happening few days after Nigeria celebrated her 60th anniversary 

Another report on 26th September 2020 trended on the internet of SARS allegedly killing a 20-year-old musician named Chibuike Daniel Ikeaguchi popularly known as Sleek in his vicinity.

Report has it that ‘‘ Chibuike on a Saturday morning went to visit his friend in his new place at Elelenwo, after playing games indoors, they stepped out to meet the bolt ride he had called. Next thing they could see is SARS appearing saying they were going to deal with all the youths. People started running and the two panicked and fled. Then SARS began to shout ‘‘thief, thief oh" they were running to safety to a supermarket and then sleek stopped to tell SARS he wasn‘t a ‘thief‘, bringing out his phone and whatever he held saying "I’m not a thief"

The mobile police at the supermarket now shot him. His friend went to him crying, ‘ He has been shot but he is still breathing‘ begged SARS to take him to a hospital. They beat him, commandeered a keke and threw him inside with his bleeding friend (Sleek)

SARS had the keke ride around town for over an hour with the young man begging for his friend‘s life, ‘see hospital, please take him there, he‘s still breathing‘. As he begged they beat him.

After everything, they went to the police station where 20 year old Sleek died, the DPO now took his body to the mortuary and labeled it an accident ‘‘

Excerpt from the Book 

P.R.O.T.E.S.T

(The Story of a Movement that changed a Nation )

Today we remember our fallen hero during the #EndSARS Protest.

Please Pre-Order my book here:

https://selar.co/P.R.O.T.E.S.T