Opinion News Analysis by Maria Wehbe, Staff Writer

November 5th, 2020

Violence, excruciating pain felt at the sight of their loved ones on the brink of death, police brutality, protests gone wrong, deaths at the hands of those in power: such is the reality of what is going on in Nigeria today, with the SARS (Special-Anti Robbery Squad) having overruled the entire country and shook each and every Nigerian man and woman down to the core. This heavily armed branch of the police force was formed in 1992 and usually deals with everything having to do with violent crimes such as car jackings, armed robberies and everything they deem fit under the category of “violence”. But what exactly was violent about the Anti-SARS protests in Nigeria? What pushed this branch of the police force to foresee the opportunity to take on their own people? 

It’s ironic, isn’t it: they’re supposed to be fighting off violent crimes, yet they’re the ones causing them to begin with. It seems like their definition of violence and “fighting it off” clearly differs from our own, as they have been accused of extortion, murder, extrajudicial killings and so much more. Yet, shockingly enough, it is not hated by the entire Nigerian population, whereby a portion see it as an effective strategy against terrorists. Does this mean innocent men and women now fit the category of terrorists? This doesn’t sound very reassuring. “Young Nigerians like me have had to learn to coexist with the casual cruelty of our police, but most especially SARS, the so-called Special Anti-Robbery Squad. A rogue unit of the Nigerian Police Force known for torture, extortion and kidnapping, SARS do as they like, when they like. And if anyone dies under their watch, they face no repercussions” expressed an #EndSARS protestor while sharing his story and his thoughts on the matter. 

With that being said, it’s not surprising that streets have flooded with Nigerian Youth aiming to halt to the bloodshed. The nationwide protests began in early October as a result of the violent harassments undergone by the Nigerian Population that has been silenced for way too long. The last straw was when a video spread showing a SARS officer shooting a man in Delta state and simply driving away, without even thinking twice. This was how the #ENDSARS protests were born, protests that were peaceful and were taken advantage of by the police. They expanded all over the country of 202 million people, even the diaspora communities found in the U.S. and Europe stood in solidarity with the movement, hoping for a better future for the country that will forever be their home. 

Even though the police tried covering it up and denying the accusations against SARS, so many Nigerian men and women came forth and shared their stories, making it hard to believe that this branch of the police force simply wanted to take care of their own, but rather exploited them and sent them to hell and back. The protests only exacerbated the situation for these courageous victims who have to face a corrupt system of negligence and discrimination on a daily basis. 

On October 21st 2020, even after a curfew had been implemented in Nigeria’s commercial hub due to the pandemic, protestors did not leave the streets: they sat on the ground, started singing the Nigerian national anthem and held hands in unison. A group of around 20 armed men closed in on these protestors, and before they even knew it, they became targets and were being shot at. Despite the fact that some of them were injured and the death toll hasn’t been determined up until now, the protestors rose from beneath the ashes and just kept singing. They seem to be so determined to do whatever it takes to fight for what they believe in.

“When my friends were kidnapped by their ‘anti-kidnapping unit’ on their way home from dinner last year, we spent the next hours walking the streets of Lagos, asking people on the roads of Victoria Island if they had seen police take two girls away.” Now, read that sentence again. Usually, when people go missing, the first resort would be to go to the police in order to ask for their help, yet in Nigeria, it is the other way around because the SARS unit is at the heart of these kidnappings. This is only one of the many stories experienced by the Nigerian population, can you even imagine to what extremes the SARS unit is willing to go in order to assert its power? 

This should be a wake-up call to each and every one of us: these events have been happening for almost a month now, yet is there even nearly enough media coverage? It is our duty to spread awareness about what is going on in Nigeria, where people are losing their sense of humanity and are foretaking every opportunity they have to exercise power. This excessive need to overrule and condemn the other to a lifetime of suffering and desperation needs to stop immediately. 

We didn’t listen to them before; we did not respond to their cries for help. With the protests having resurfaced, it is now our chance to do what’s right and to compensate for not having contributed before. We need to spread the word, we need to ignite our sense of humanity, we need to heighten our love for one another and our sense of community.