The Ghost of End SARS still Haunts Nigeria.

Soon, the 4th anniversary of End SARS protests will be marked across Nigeria but there is a strong speculation that the Federal Government may as usual clamp down on the protesters. Bereaved families across Nigeria and their friends will once more remember the killings of their loved ones who were protesting to make the country a better place; protesters who were only armed with the Nigerian flag and freedom songs were mercilessly sent to their early graves. It can be recalled that in October 2020, the notorious police unit in the Nigerian Police Force known as Special Anti-Robbery Squad SARS, a body created to fight armed robbery and other violent crimes in Nigeria got hold of a young boy in his mid-20s during their stop and search security exercise. With little or no provocation, the poor boy was shot and left in the pool of his own blood to helplessly die as the SARS police officers reportedly zoomed off. The poor boy died minutes later. Coupled with other sad stories of gross human rights violations by SARS, the incident sparked up a national outrage and protests with a hash tag known as End SARS. The protests, from Umuaka Times sources first started in the social media space before it gained prominence across all the states and streets in Nigeria.

In a broader picture, and for those who perhaps did not follow the protests then or may have forgotten, End SARS is a civil society movement embarked upon by the frustrated Nigerian youths which began in 2020 to demand among other things, the disbandment of SARS over her gross human rights violations, killings, extortions, brutality and more. Investigation and prosecution of police officers accused of abuse of human rights and extortions and finally, well equipped training, accountability and reforms within the Nigerian Police Force NPF.

Umuaka Times sources confirmed that both the social media and the mainstream Nigerian media created a synergy that gave the protesters the attention they deserved; social media influencers, TV, radio stations and newspapers consistently covered the protests as youths mobilized themselves massively from one state to another including Abuja the Federal Capital Territory with the sole aim of ending the criminal activities of SARS.

The police, army and the Federal Government initially saw the protests as a childish affair which would fizzle out after a day or two. They reportedly dismissed it with a wave of the hand but were deeply shocked as the protests continued to gather momentum on daily basis with celebrities joining and international media outlets reporting the exercise. A source disclosed to reporters that the government would fight back through the police and army but such disclosures never slowed down the tempo of the protests.

As the protesters refused to leave the streets, the police and army began massive arrests, teargasing and shooting the protesters. Different sources monitored by Umuaka Times gave diverse figures of those who fell victim; the police according to the then Inspector General of Police  Mohammed Adamu, claimed that 73 people died nationwide,  51 civilians and 22 police officers. Amnesty International puts its own figure at over 12 deaths. A local human rights group later disclosed that at least over 240 lives were lost, including 123 at the Lekki Toll Gate where the main action took place in Lagos. Local estimates from Oyigbo, a suburb of Rivers State, counted about 50 deaths mostly youths.

Investigations conducted by Umuaka Times showed that it will be almost impossible to establish the exact number of those who lost their lives or those declared missing during the End SARS protests because some families refused to speak up. From Umuaka Times observations, some have gone to exile or left the country due to the fear of reprisal “attacks” by the government. A list of Nigerians killed during the protests Umuaka Times came across last year includes Abouta Solomon, Olalekan Abideen, Victor Sunday Ibanga, Aiyedungbe Gabriel, John Doe, Wisdom Okon and many others. Those who survived with heavy gunshot injuries include Agbeze Ifeanyi Matthew; a 35 year old content creator shot at Lekki Toll Gate but survived with fractured ribs. 21 year old Jimoh Isiaka who is an old student from Ogbomoso whose father, Jimoh Atanda, reportedly told reporters that his only son was the first demonstrator killed during the protests. Pelumi Onifade, a reporter with Gboah TV whose assignment was to cover the protests was later found dead in police custody after his family declared him missing. Ode Sunday Eghosa, a youth activist and the popular owner of On Point Barbers in Satellite Town who according sources, played a major role during the protests; the offence of Mr Eghosa who is said to be in his late 20s was that protesters from Satellite Town used to gather at his shop every morning, sing freedom songs before taking off to Lekki Toll Gate. Neighbours confirmed that the poor barber always got into trouble with SARS over his dreadlocks usual hairstyle, which he keeps to attract clients. Several times he had explained to SARS who sees youths with dreadlocks as criminals that he keeps the hairstyle to promote his haircut business. His activism earned him a close encounter with death as he got a bullet on his left elbow during the invasion. Daniel Chibuike also known as Sleek, a 20 year old songwriter was shot by SARS officers in early October 2020. His death was one of the reasons the Nigerian youths went on End SARS protests.

Other victims include an unnamed young woman who was stabbed in the neck in Oyo State after refusing to give up her phone; she was left bleeding for long. More than 3 years after the mayhem of End SARS, did anything change? Are the police now observing and ensuring the fundamental human rights of the citizens? Nigerians are still angry that the major demands by the protesters were never met till date.

Reports gathered by Umuaka Times show that from 2021 till date, more than 30 Nigerians have so far been shot and some of them killed by the police.

“Human rights reports also note that protest related clashes alone accounted for 73 or more fatalities in 2021. Putting the pieces together, it’s reasonable to say that several dozen Nigerians have been shot by police since 2021, with the death toll likely in the high‑tens to low‑hundreds and the number of injuries running higher.”

As Nigerians are still battling with insecurity, gross human rights violations by the police authorities, extortions and killings, observers and social commentators consider an urgent need for the National Assembly to create the panacea needed to ensure the human rights reforms needed in the country. Some families still do not know where their loved ones are till date. Perhaps some were killed during the shootings while others ran outside the country. A particular story from Punch dated 23rd July 2023, under the title, Lagos plans mass burial for 103 recovered bodies, the newspaper wrote: “The Lagos State Government has approved the mass burial of 103 corpses recovered in the aftermath of the mass protest that rocked the state in October 2020 where youths sought the disbandment of the defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad. The state Ministry of Health confirmed this in a statement signed by its Permanent Secretary, Dr. Olusegun Ogboye, made available to our correspondent by Gboyega Akosile, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Sunday.”

Umuaka Times subsequently gathered that the planned mass burial for End SARS protesting victims leaked from the government quarters and the government has been making every effort to conceal the reality as the authorities continue to deny that protesters were killed. Umuaka Times findings showed that after the invasion of Lekki Toll Gate by armed soldiers, the governor of Lagos State Babajide Sanwo Olu confirmed that 28 injured protesters were admitted at different hospitals and state officials visited the facilities to check on the victims. A confirmation from Mainland Hospital Yaba noted that a directive from the state Ministry of Health has instructed the hospital not to discharge anybody linked to the protests. This directive indicates that the authorities were also trying to identify and possibly detain anyone with gunshot injury still in medical care. Confirmed reports across Nigeria especially Lagos, had it that “the police were actively seeking out protest‑related patients in the hospital system, even as the force later claimed no protesters remained in custody.”

This development sent panic in town as some protesters receiving treatment from undisclosed hospitals had to escape.

Barrister Orji, a Lagos lawyer who told reporters that he would represent the End SARS gunshot patients via pro bono services captured it thus: “Do you know that till date they are yet to accept that over 100 protesters were shot dead? That is why they are still arresting the protesters with gunshot injuries just to destroy the evidence. But I have bad news for them; some of those they are looking for are no longer in the country because Nigeria can no longer guarantee their fundamental human rights.”

May the sad events brought upon the helpless Nigerian youths during the End SARS protests never happen again.