For the past few weeks, the Nigerian social media space has entertained one topic, the End SARS protests. Incredibly, the world too chimed in as celebrities worldwide joined in on spreading awareness of the situation on ground Africa’s most populous nation. Nationwide protests have been held with so much fervour as youths have cast aside tribalistic and religious affiliations to come together with one voice and demand an end to police brutality in the nation.
The Nigerian Police Force for years has been plagued with accusations of extra judicial killings, extortion, torture, invasion of privacy, kidnapping amongst other unspeakable crimes. The major culprit in the widespread dehumanisation of human lives by the Police was the highly controversial Special Anti-Robbery Squad otherwise known as SARS. Tales of the high-handedness and inhumanity of these dreaded men in uniforms have abounded for years with nothing tangible being done by the government to call them to order. However, with the recent uproar caused by tired citizens calling for the disbandment of this rogue group, the Inspector General of Police yielded and “dissolved” SARS.
But an important question needs to be asked. How did we get here though?
Well, SARS was a Nigerian Police Force unit created in 1984 to deal with crimes associated with robbery, motor vehicle theft, kidnapping, cattle rustling, and firearms. Then robbery was prevalent. Buhari, the then Head of State, got a lot of complaint. After four months of creating SARS, there was peace, those who were not caught ran, and those who were caught were sent to prison.
“EDITORIAL GIVEAWAY”
So how did a unit that was created for the sole purpose of tackling crimes become the perpetrators of crimes innumerable?
A question that actually cannot be answered in one sitting. The only thing that can possibly be said is that, SARS officers saw themselves above the law and meted out punishments in whatever degree they saw fit. It’s safe to say that absolute power corrupts absolutely.
How exactly was their modus operandi?
After years of stereotyping, it was clear to see who they targeted. Under the guise of arresting internet fraudsters popularly called yahoo boys, SARS officials went after young boys who spotted dreads, tattoos, flashy cars and iPhones. As a youth in possession of any of these items or looks, you became an automatic suspect. On a lucky day, you could go free only after you had given hundreds if thousands of naira to the police officers even of nothing incriminating was found on you. On a bad day, you could be beaten like a criminal and even killed in cold blood.
It was due to these constant occurrences nationwide that the youths arose and demanded a total end to this group. It is important to note that, protests of this nature had happened before and the government had “disbanded”, “reformed” and “banned” SARS on three different occasions. But nothing changed as the same events of terror kept on being perpetrated by the same police officers. This time around, the youths demanded a complete end to the group and nothing more.
What exactly was the final straw that broke the camel’s back?
On October 3, 2020, a young man, Joshua Ambrose was allegedly thrown out of a moving car by members of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad in Ughelli, Delta State and that sparked the current End SARS protests.
Some questions need to be asked to shed light on the protests by the Nigerian youths.
Who are the youths protesting against?
Nigerian youths are protesting years of police brutality, particularly the heinous acts of violence carried out by SARS.
What are the demands of the protesters?
Protesters are demanding the immediate dissolution of the SARS unit, as well as top to bottom police reform and decisive action to combat the menace of police brutality in Nigeria.
Why the protests?
SARS officers are known to steal, threaten, harrass, coerce, extort, blackmail, rape, assault, kidnap and even murder innocent civilians.
Where have the protests been held?
Protests have been taking place across Nigeria including Lagos State, Delta State and the capital city, Abuja. Similar protests have been organised around the world, in cities such as London, Toronto, Pretoria, Washington DC, New York, Accra, Geneva and Berlin to show solidarity and raise aware globally.
On Sunday, 11 October 2020, Nigeria’s Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu announced the “dissolution” of SARS. Many Nigerians within the movement criticised the announcement, however, pointing out that similar promises had been made in earlier years and that the government’s plan was to reassign SARS officers to other police departments rather than eliminate them from the force entirely. The protests continued despite the “dissolution” as many did not believe the pronouncement.
After all, this would be the fourth dissolution in 4 years. It was logical that Nigerians were sceptical once again. The announcement that a new team, Special Weapons and Tactics Team(SWAT) would be replacing SARS did nothing to calm the already heightened tensions. Nigerians kept on protesting and called for an end to the SWAT team too.
It’s clear to see that the Nigerian populace has no trust in the Police system and it would take years before the average Nigerian actually sees the Police as a friend. Wholesale reforms and meaningful actions need to be seen on ground from the Nigerian Police Force. Officers with proven cases of misconduct need to face justice. A total re education and training of the officers is needed as well. The citizenry want to see action not just words. Only then will the Nigerian youths believe that they are safe in their own land.
Mark Enobong Ofonime
300 level
References
Special Anti-Robbery Squad
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Anti-Robbery_Squad
End SARS
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/End_SARS
This is just too much🙇🙇