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Yesterday, Nigerian security forces killed several protesters in Lagos, Amnesty International said, after protesters defied a curfew order amid increasingly violent protests.
Witnesses said gunmen opened fire on a crowd of more than 1,000 last night to disperse them after a curfew was imposed to end spiraling protests over police brutality and entrenched social grievances.
Amnesty said it is trying to determine the exact number of people who died.
The Lagos governor said authorities were investigating the death of one person due to “blunt force trauma to the head” and that 25 others were injured.
The Nigerian military did not respond to AFP requests for comment, but called the reports of soldiers firing at protesters as “fake news” on Twitter.
Weeks of protests
Thousands of people have taken to the streets in recent weeks to protest against police brutality in the country, where the average age is 18.
Demonstrations broke out earlier this month and initially focused on the abolition of the federal Special Anti-Theft Squad (SARS), charged with illegal detention, extortion and extrajudicial killings.
But after the government announced the dissolution of the unit, thousands of protesters, mostly young people, remained in the streets pressing for genuine change in the country.
On Monday, a crowd stormed a Benin prison and released about 200 prisoners. Protesters have also attacked police stations and vehicles in various parts of the country.
Source: Al Jazeera English / YouTube
Why did the protests start?
In early October, a video was released on social media showing a SARS officer allegedly attacking a man in Delta state.
The video was massively shared in the country of 200 million people and thousands began to share their own stories of police abuse online.
“Nigerian youth have campaigned against SARS for years,” wrote Bulama Bukarti for the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
But the recent video “resonated with thousands of people across the country and drove young people to take to the streets en masse.”
#EndSARS
Within days, the #EndSARS hashtag topped global trends on Twitter, supported by world-famous Afrobeat musicians like Davido and Wizkid. Their commitment gave visibility to the movement.
Many more celebrities, such as musicians Lizzo, Cardi B and Kanye West and Manchester United player Odion Jude Ighalo, have raised awareness of the protests and called for international intervention, bringing the issue to a wider audience.
Pray for NIGERIA🇳🇬✊🏿 pic.twitter.com/V7i4Ngs9qd
– Odion Jude Ighalo (@ighalojude) October 20, 2020
There was a violent police repression in some of the first protests. At least 10 people died and hundreds were injured, according to Amnesty International.
The brutal response drew more people to the streets and emboldened protesters began to push harder.
Demonstrations have also taken place abroad, perhaps the most notable involving the larger Nigerian community in London.
“The participation of the diaspora was immensely shocking because Nigerian politicians are easily disturbed by negative news outside the country, especially in the West,” said Bukarti.
How is the government responding?
Yielding to pressure, President Muhammadu Buhari announced on October 11 that SARS would be disbanded with immediate effect.
He said the move was “only the first step” in more extensive reforms to the Nigerian police. A new SWAT unit was announced to replace SARS, with the promise that it will be “ethical.”
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Alister, a protester who said his brother Emeka was shot and killed, speaks to the Associated Press near the Lekki tollbooth in Lagos, Nigeria, yesterday.
Source: Sunday Alamba / AP / Press Association Images
SARS officers will not be eligible for the new unit and will have to undergo a psychological evaluation before being reassigned, police said.
The government said the police abuses will be investigated and prosecuted. But these announcements have not appeased the protesters, who are skeptical of change and the demonstrations continue.
How long will the protests last?
“Nigerians are skeptical of the authorities’ promise to end police atrocities because past claims to reform SARS have turned out to be empty words,” said Osai Ojigho, Director of Amnesty International Nigeria.
The protesters have made five demands that include structural reforms of the police and better salaries for officers.
“High-ranking officers are known to maintain a perverse bribery pyramid that requires underpaid rank-and-file officers to transfer extorted bribes to citizens up the chain of command,” wrote Leena Koni Hoffmann, associate member of Chatham House.
Many of the protesters have started calling for broader change as they seek to seize the moment to bring about real change in their country.
While Nigeria is the largest economy in Africa, more than half of the population lives in poverty and youth unemployment rates are significant.
On the streets and online, young people have called for better job opportunities, an end to power outages, more freedom of expression, and better representation in politics.
For some, like Bukarti, “this may be just the beginning, rather than the end, of mass protests in Nigeria.”
– © AFP 2020 with report by Órla Ryan
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