#EndSARS protests of Nigeria

  • The protests in Nigeria was started against police brutality in October, with a simple hashtag #EndSARS, that in turn became the name by which the movement came to be identified.. 
  • Some Nigerian youths had started a peaceful protest asking for the proscription of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) – a tactical unit of the Nigeria Police Force.
  • They accused SARS of going beyond their constitutional boundaries in the discharge of their duties
  • The protests has since expanded into popular resistance against the country’s politicians, the government and corruption. 

SARS

  • The SARS unit is Nigeria’s Special Anti-Robbery Squad created in 1984. 
  • The unit was created to deal with rising cases of violent crimes in the country.
  • However, it did not take long for the unit to become a powerful entity, one that acted with impunity and without any accountability.
  • An Amnesty International report issued in June this year showed how SARS officers had been involved in at least 82 cases of torture, ill treatment and extrajudicial executions between January 2017 and May 2020. 
HOW DID #ENDSARS START?

  • The start of the protests can be traced to a video on October 3, that showed an unprovoked killing of a man by SARS officers in the town of Ughelli. 
  • After the video was shared across social media platforms, resulting in criticism of SARS officers, Nigerian government officials claimed that the video was fake and arrested the person who filmed it.
  • The government’s denials, particularly the arrest of the Nigerian citizen who had filmed the video, served to further anger the public. 
  • Demonstrations erupted in cities and towns, demanding that the Nigerian government dismantle the SARS police unit.
  • On October 20, protestors who were engaged in a peaceful demonstration in the affluent Lekki district of the capital Lagos, were suppressed by the military and curfews were imposed. 
  • A Reuters report said protestors in Lekki were also shot at by military personnel, which injected violence into peaceful demonstrations. 
DEMANDS
  • The Nigerian government had initially promised to investigate reports of impunity and the lack of accountability enjoyed by the SARS unit. 
  • The government also pledged to disband this unit following reports of corruption.
  • The protestors are also demanding accountability from the government and want an end to the practise of corruption and bribery. 

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