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NEWS ANALYSIS
When video of a young man in Ughelli in Delta State being harassed and eventually shot dead by members of a unit of the Nigerian Police Force, the so-called special anti-theft squad (Sars) went viral on social media. last week, little did anyone know that it would lead to the biggest protests in the country since the return of democracy in 1999?
Nationwide protests have rocked the country for days as young Nigerians took to the streets to demand the abolition of Sars. Protesters have come out in large numbers in Lagos, the nation’s economic capital, and in Abuja, the seat of federal power, to call for the dissolution of Sars. Citizens of regional centers such as Port Harcourt, Ibadan and Kano have also made their voices heard. Nigerians, prolific travelers, also took their protests to the nation’s high commissions in London, Pretoria and Berlin over the weekend. Your demand is as simple as a hashtag: #EndSars.
As a Nigerian in my 20s, I am proud of the protesters, many of whom are in my age group, for living up to the moment. I am proud of those on the streets who put themselves in danger to demand a fairer Nigeria, proud of those who donate their money and resources to provide legal assistance to the arrested protesters, and of those who amplify the message on all social media platforms.
In a country of more than 180 million people and with more languages than the Tower of Babel, my generation of Nigerians is showing that we can achieve more if we stick together.
Sars was established in 1992 to address the rise in armed robbery with the “element of surprise,” according to its founder, Simeon Danladi Midenda. Instead, the only people who have been shocked are unarmed young Nigerians trying to make a living despite the economic odds being firmly against them.
Sars officers, who are supposed to work undercover and only pounce when necessary, like a Nigerian version of America’s Swat (special weapons and tactics) teams, have become a permanent fixture on the roads, stopping cars and demanding responses from potential victims.
In the world’s most populous black nation, profiling is not based on the color of your skin, but on the clothes you wear and the hairstyle you have. Young men with dreadlocks are the usual target. Those with tattoos are not left out. So are those with devices like iPhones and MacBooks. Driving an expensive car is a sure way to get men of the force to question or detain you.
Once, in December 2016, the squad stopped me in Ibadan, my hometown, to search my iPhone and ask ignorant questions. Compared to many others, I came out lightly.
The anti-theft special squad’s argument to arrest its victims is as simple as it is illogical: because Nigeria has its fair share of cybercriminals, any young man displaying any form of wealth should be viewed with suspicion.
It does not matter that Nigeria has an agency, namely the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, which is tasked with dealing with corruption and financial crime, as its name boldly implies. Sars still reads the emails and text messages of those she stops. Messages from foreigners are almost certain to cause problems for their recipients, since young technology investor found to his dismay last year.
Then the extortion begins. Sars officials demand bribes from their inmates while threatening to kill them if they refuse to cooperate. Through a toxic mix of fear, coercion, and the potential for tragic outcomes, the men in the Sars unit generally get their way.
Many have not been lucky enough to escape alive. Kolade Johnson, a 36-year-old father of one, was killed last year as he was leaving one of the many observation centers in Lagos where he had gone to watch a football game. His crime? He was in the same neighborhood as another man, whom the police had deemed a “Yahoo boy,” local slang for an Internet scammer.
Kazeem Tiamiyu, a professional soccer player for the Nigerian national league, was killed in February by the same unit.
Young women are not safe from Sars’ clutches either. Tina Ezekwe, a 16-year-old high school student, was killed in May when a police officer fired indiscriminately at a bus stop.
The names of the murdered are enough to fill this page. There are reports of women sexually assaulted while in his custody.
Despite the clamor that began in late 2017, law enforcement authorities and government leaders have done nothing but lip service to the shouts of Nigerian youth. In June, a report from the Nigerian Amnesty office detailed at least 82 “cases of torture, ill-treatment and extrajudicial execution by Sars between January 2017 and May 2020.” The report concluded that no Sars official has been held responsible for human rights violations.
The utter impunity of the police and the deafening silence of Nigeria’s elected leaders brought the nation’s youth to the streets to demand justice. In a country where 30.7% of young people are unemployed and where basic amenities are woefully lacking, young people are simply demanding the opportunity to live a decent life.
They do not ask the government to provide them with employment, health care or education. They just don’t want to be shot dead in state-sanctioned acts of violence.
Nigeria’s youth are hard-working, and many of them occupy positions in the burgeoning sector of technology, the arts and other creative spaces. However, it is the very gadgets they use for their trade that often put them in danger at the hands of trigger-happy police.
On Sunday, Nigerian police finally appeared to have acceded to protesters’ demands. The police chief announced on live television that the rogue unit would be disbanded and its officers would be reassigned.
It may have meant to sound like a victory, but we’ve been here before. Similar pronouncements have been made on at least four occasions with no tangible effect. There is little reason to trust the words of a police chief whose officers attacked peaceful protesters in Abuja, while his speech was ongoing, with water cannons, tear gas and live bullets, demonstrating the meaning of the protests in time. real.
On Saturday, at least one protester, Jimoh Isiaq, was killed in the southwestern city of Ogbomoso. Videos on social media have also shown police firing at protesters in Lagos, with at least one person confirmed dead. The death toll is constantly increasing: at least ten were reported killed on Monday.
However, in the face of violence from the same police force, people are protesting, the answer one of Nigerian leaders is to tell young people to stand down from protesting. One governor, Nyesom Wike, of the oil-rich Rivers State, even declared that there was prohibited protests in your state.
One would think that Wike, a lawyer by training, would recognize that peaceful protests are an inalienable right of every Nigerian, enshrined in the very constitution that allows him to serve as governor.
But that’s not the only attack on the protests by the authorities: the bank account of the Feminist Coalition, a grassroots women’s organization that helps pay bail and other protesters’ needs, was disabled on Tuesday, presumably by order of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari’s response has also been woefully inadequate. As protests continued across the country, he remained silent, hiding behind muffled tweets written by his media aides. He did not address a nation in crisis until Monday afternoon in a short clip posted on Twitter, as he usually does.
This is the same man who, in July, found time to visit Bamako when soldiers deposed the President of Mali in a coup. However, your response at home can be charitably called, at best, embarrassingly muted. A more accurate description would be that he has been negligent; On the very day of the deadly police attacks, the president was busy ordering tricycles as part of a “youth empowerment plan.”
And so the protests continue. The current order for the redeployment of Sars officers does not meet the simple demands of the people. Protesters in the streets of Lagos, Abuja and elsewhere are clamoring for the immediate release of all arrested protesters, an investigation and prosecution for misconduct, as well as compensation for the families of those killed by the police.
This movement has power, let it continue.
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