Day 8 Of #EndSars Protest: What Nigerian Youths Are Doing Right Now.
Nigerian youths are speaking up against police brutality, and the whole world is listening except the Nigerian government.
For a long while since the creation of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in 1992, the unit has been accused of detaining Nigerian youths and extorting money from them.
SARS officers regularly profile youths based on their general appearance (dreads, tattoos, flashy wears). They impose illegal road stop, search & arrest without warrant, rape and sexually harass women.
Furthermore, the SARS officials extort young Nigerians for driving expensive vehicles and using sophisticated phones like iPhones, charge innocent youths with heinous crimes and in recurring cases, murder them.
#EndSARS protests which demand that the Nigerian Government scraps the SARS unit is making a significant wave in Nigeria and here’s all you need to know about it…
— Our Demands
— How It All Started
A video that revealed how some SARS officers shot a young man and fled with his Lexus SUV became viral on social media. The incident happened in Delta state at the front of Wetland Hotel, Ughelli made its way to social media on the 3rd of October 2020. The video provoked the public and birthed the #EndSars on Twitter.
— Online Protest On The Streets Of Twitter
The campaign against police brutality kickstarted on Twitter, a platform that has many young Nigerians as regular users. Between the 9th and 11th of October, the #EndSars amassed over 28 million tweets.
Thanks to the online protesters, commonly known as keypad warriors, the social media campaign has attracted celebrities and important personalities all over the globe like Cardi B, Gabrielle Union and husband, Dwayne Wade, Big Sean, Jidenna, Kanye West, Diddy, John Boyega, Mesut Ozil, Marcus Rashford, Lecrae,Trey Songz, Luvvie Ajayi and others.
— Physical Protest
Young Nigerians took out to the streets on the 9th of October to protest against SARS and police brutality. At first, the numbers were small. However, the numbers grew each day as more youths came out to support the movement.
—Swift And Incredible Funding
This aspect is probably the most thrilling and exciting part of the protest. Following the protest, the Feminist coalition set up a crowdfunding platform to support the campaign. People, companies, and private organizations are showing massive support by donating.
Other individuals have also set up funding platforms to support the protests.
— Decentralized Leadership
While we have key people at the forefront of the #EndSars campaign, the youths have collectively agreed that they have no leader. They have rejected every advice and effort from the older generation and specific people in the government to set up a committee to discuss our demands.
— We Lost some Soldiers.
About ten people have died and several people injured or arrested since the start of the protest. Police and SARS officials are involved in this tirade. Also, some prominent individuals hired thugs to hijack the protest in various parts of the country which led to more casualties.
— Government’s Reaction So Far To The Protest…
The SARS Unit Was Dissolved
At the start of the protest, the Inspector General of police announced that the government has dissolved the SARS unit.
However, Nigerians youth are smart to know that it was a mere announcement with no action, meant to quiet down the protest. Interestingly, the same proclamation has been made by the IG in the past and days after the “disestablishment of SARS ‘’ the officials were still seen harassing young people and in full action.
SARS to SWAT
The government found out that the initial announcement did nothing but provoke the youths further.
Due to this, the IG proceeded to inform the public about the reformation of SARS to SWAT.
As expected, the youths rejected this idea which birthed the now-famous phrase “Werey Dey Disguise,” which indicates the folly behind the reformation.
Attempts To Stop The Protest
The government decided to kick start talks with ASUU, University staff union of the country to persuade them to suspend their strike and resume. This action implies that students will have to resume too, which would deter them from getting involved with the protest.
Also, they directed civil servants nationwide to return to work.
The government believes these actions will disrupt the protest.
Account Restrictions
The Central Bank of Nigeria summoned Flutterwave, a leading payment platform in the country through which people made donations to support the protests.
In addition, the Flutterwave donation link was deactivated.
And other associated bank accounts with the protest were restricted.
Thankfully, bitcoin came through.
National Policy On Social Media Usage
Seeing the powerful role social media is playing on the campaign. The government seeks to launch a policy to curb social media usage.
This action is not surprising. On the 5th of November 2019, the Anti-social Media Bill was presented by the Senate of The Federal Republic to prohibit the use of social media in pushing false or felonious information.
The bill didn’t make it past the second hearing because the public unanimously resisted and criticized it.
— Progress Report
— Big News Amid The Protest
International fintech giant, Stripe acquired PayStack, a Nigerian fintech startup for $200 million to expand into the African continent. This win is a huge one for the Africa tech ecosystem, and it is the biggest startup to come out of Nigeria.
A noteworthy comment related to the #EndSARS struggle
Future of the Protest.
Today is day 8 of the protest, and Nigerian youths are not relenting.
Sadly, three more protestors lost their lives in the struggle.
This evening at the protest locations in various states of the country, a candle night event is taking place in honour of the fallen heroes. The ones who lost their lives during the protest, including those who SARS officials directly shot. And the young individuals who died while enduring the inhumane treatment meted to them by the police.
We’ll never forget their names.
The Struggle Continues…
We’ll keep fighting until the powers that be choruses an “Amen” to all our demands. ✊
If you’ll love to know more about the #EndSARS project, visit www.endsars.com
