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COMMENTARY
Nigeria has always killed its citizens.
It killed them in the infamous pogroms against the Igbo people in the 1960s in northern Nigeria, and it became the slaughter of hundreds of thousands (or millions, according to some reports) in the Biafra War that continues to haunt our national imagination. .
He killed them in various protests during and against the military government in the 1970s long before I was born, and he killed them again in the 1980s when I was just a child. He killed them in the 1990s when citizens dared to take to the streets to demand the announcement of the winner of the historic June 12 elections, and he killed them again in my teens, under the presidency of General Sani Abacha.
Democracy did not rid Nigeria of its hunger for blood. Since 1999, Nigeria has killed citizens everywhere, from Odi, Bayelsa, where thousands were killed in what is now known as the Odi Massacre, to Maiduguri in Borno.
In response to public outcry, kill people.
In response to domestic criminals and terrorists, he kills his people as collateral damage in forceful and disorganized battles against better-equipped enemies, and for their utter incompetence and corruption.
Nigerian security forces are experts in murdering Nigerians. In fact, we have gotten used to it. I got used to hundreds of deaths from peaceful self-determination protests. I have become used to the number of people killed, tortured and arrested by the Special Anti-Theft Brigade that we are now protesting again. I got used to the dozens who have been killed, in a continuous attack on citizens by the security forces since we started these #EndSARS protests two weeks ago.
When he does not call us, he cannot save us from death. Unable to save us from the 1800 deaths recorded by bandits in 2018. Unable to save us from the more than 400 killed by Boko Haram in 2019. Unable to save us from the at least 1,100 villagers killed so far in 2020.
And yet instead of hiding his face in his shame, here he is again, killing us.
As I write, at least seven people were reported dead by Nigerian police who, as captured in a live video I just saw on social media, opened fire on peaceful protesters, unarmed citizens in the Lagos seats protesting in the more public places. , the popular Lekki toll gate in Lagos, Nigeria.
It is doing so because protesters remain on the streets peacefully for the thirteenth day in a row, ignoring the government’s ambiguous and dishonest responses to demands to end police brutality, hold murderous cops accountable, and reform the security apparatus of the city. nation. He violated the constitutional right of citizens to protest by “banning” protests and when citizens refused to leave, he sent soldiers to carry them out.
The images are shocking. My friend is crying while I write, while watching videos that I cannot bear to watch. “See bullets,” DJ Switch, a popular singer who is broadcasting the deaths and injuries live on her Instagram page to more than 150,000 viewers, for the world to see for themselves, says, reporting on the chaos and confusion. as the security forces paid for taxpayer money to protect us once again is killing us.
Seven confirmed dead. Several confirmed injuries, including the one we also see on video, who had a bullet removed from his leg because there are no ambulances and the protesters are huddled together, afraid to move, lest the killers still be in the protest compound open fire. again.
We are all watching this as if it were a movie. We have never seen anything like this before, not because it has never happened before, but because we can see it live with our eyes and hear it with our eyes. We can face the evil of our own government on our own, and we cannot deny that we see what we see and hear what we hear.
A generation faces the reality of its own nation: Nigeria kills its people. Nigeria has always killed its people. And if we don’t radically change our country, Nigeria, from president to president, in an unbroken chain, it will continue to kill its people.
As I am about to run out of words for this piece, the guy who was having the bullets removed from his leg was just announced dead.
Chude Jideonwo is the host of the #WithChude radio and television network, which creates safe spaces for conversations about mental, emotional and spiritual health in Africa. He is also a co-founder of the burgeoning Human company. Joy, Inc.
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