#ENDSARS: BLOOD, POWER, COURAGE AND SACRIFICE
Image Sourced Online (lekki toll gate slaughter)
By Momodu Precious
If history could leave the abstract space and spread through our sky like rainbow do after rain, Nigeria would have been a hotspot for photographers all over the world to capture the awestricken colours that painted her sky during the last quarter of the year 2020.
It all started like a child's play when Naira Marley and Runtown first promised to hit the streets of Lagos to protest against the excess of the security outfit, Special Anti-Robbery Squad, popularly known as SARS. That was not the first time Nigerians would call for the end of this agency, but all previous agitations were made on social media. Though the citizens never brought themselves to the front door of the government's office to protest in their previous agitations, their online expression is audible enough for any reasonable government to put in place all necessary means to eradicate police brutality. But when the bane persists for years, the potential victims, mostly the youths, decided to take the notch a bit higher by organising a peaceful protest to gain the attention of their elected candidates in political power. But for days of raging protest, the president of Nigeria failed to address the country.
When the government would finally take action towards the demands of her citizens, the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, announced the dismantle of SARS and the creation of a new subset christened SWAT.
This in no way pacify the agitators. In fact, it infuriated them the more. "Is the government implying that they have no right to demand an end to an unwanted policy?", "Is the presidency implying that it made them Nigerians to contradict their beliefs that they made the presidency what it is?" or "The government is insinuating that they are too insignificant to make demands in the country they contribute their existence to?"
These are some of the many questions that roamed the minds of these protesters and for this sake, they steered the wheels of their agitation towards the direction that will not only see an end towards police brutality but also put an end to the century old poor governance that dragged their country from its destined post as one of the most developed countries in the world to one of the poorest economy there is, despite it's enormous human and natural resources.
Image sourced online (Agitated youths)
Seeing from the angle of an expert, the ant of these youth truly carried a roasted plantain instead of the grain of rice that is about its size, especially when all the weapon they had was a peaceful protest that could only attract attention.
Though, the government denied their involvement in the hurdles that faced the protesters afterwards, all the questions of who and why in a criminal case points directly to the elected politicians as the number one suspect that could and would initiate such.
The first difficulty that the protesters faced was the hired thugs that attacked them with machete. But when the many finally decide to take charge of their life from the few, hired thugs is too small to scare them off. The next strategy that was put in place to silence the protesters was a bribe, but surprisingly, they refused that too and stood steadfast to their demands.
When mufti thugs and money could not silence the youths, the last resort to repel them is fear. On October 10, 2020, the Nigerian army drove to Lekki toll gate to "maintain law and order" where peaceful protesters were expressing their demands to the government.
At the protest ground, video evidence captured the military men shooting at the protesters. Also, live videos showed protesters ejecting bullets from the wounded victims. This was a live bullet that leaves blood behind its trail. But come the morning, Lagos state Governor, Babajide Sanwoolu, said truly there was a shooting but "nobody died". Then different contradicting reports came from the government authorities that should be held accountable for the occured incidents.
A wishy-washy judicial panel was quickly initiated to investigate the case. But for those who were alive to witness what happened to the outspoken artiste, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, in 1979 when 1000 "unknown" soldiers laid siege to his house and the murder case of the radical journalist, Dele Giwa, that remained an unsolved mystery till date, would know the end result of the supposed men of honor that constitutes this hastly made judicial panel.
One of the facts that corroborate this stance was the panels' recommendation to reopen Lekki toll gate before the end of their investigation. The ripple effect of this decision saw to the arrest and public humiliation of Debo Adedayo, popularly known as Mr Macaroni, on the 14th of February 2021.
Though the purpose of the protest was not reached, the memory of #ENDSARS will definitely leave a beautiful scar in the minds of average Nigerians.
While narrating the experience of the protest, one of the pop star that was on the front line, David Adeleke (Davido), expressed that, “It was crazy and emotional, but also a proud moment for me because I didn’t go there as Davido, I went there as a young Nigerian to march with my people on the streets of Abuja. It was all about letting our voices be heard and getting the Inspector General of Police’s attention, as well as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the lower chambers of the Nigerian parliament and other people in government.”
Without a doubt, the youths made certain that their voices were heard in their demand for a better nation. If no positive outcome is derived from the protest, it is in no way their failure. It is the negligence and incapability of the elected public servants to provide a safe haven for the country they promised to serve.
