After five days of unwavering protests by the Nigerian youths against the activities and the entity of the Police Special Anti-Robbery Squad, otherwise known as SARS, and against general police brutality, not much has really changed. Despite the Inspector General of Police, Mr Muhammad A. Adamu, issuing a communique (as has been the culture over the last four years) that the rogue and murderous police unit had been dissolved, the story in the streets of Nigeria could not have been further from the truth. As a matter of fact, while that very statement was being made by the IGP, reports had begun to trickle in over social media about the police using water cannons, tear gas, live ammunition and brutal force against protesters in Abuja the capital city of Nigeria, and in other locations like Ogbomoso, Ogun State. This coupled with instances of police extorting unfortunate protesters and otherwise arresting them in a fashion more akin to kidnap than legal arrests.
It’s noteworthy to add, that several young people have been killed by unruly policemen during the course of these protests. The likes of Jimoh Isiaq and a yet unnamed ten-year-old boy in Ogbomoso. Many Nigerians have taken to calling the dissolution of SARS an “audio ban,” as we’ve heard it all before, and yet, the unit remains operational to date.
Yesterday, October 12, saw more and intensified protests around the country, as well as blockades on major routes both in Lagos and Abuja, and at the time, the President, Muhammadu Buhari, was yet to address the nation in any way whatsoever—not a surprising phenomenon as it has become a thing of privilege for the President to address the nation.
However, by afternoon yesterday, the President was seen to address the nation in a video clip that ran for a minute and thirty-five seconds. Meanwhile, during this same time frame, in Surulere, Lagos, men of the police force had opened fire on peaceful protesters, with at least one, 55-year-old Ikechukwu Iloh, confirmed dead, and several others injured and others snatched off the streets. Not so surprisingly, the police, in a statement by Police Public Relations Officer SP Olumuyiwa Adejobi on behalf of the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, has shamefully and unequivocally denied having a hand in any of these incidences and even went a step further to say that no protesters were shot at, killed, or arrested off the streets in Surulere.
This coming against overwhelming evidence to the contrary. The statement also added that “armed protesters” opened fire on the police, killing one officer and wounding two others in the process, and went ahead to frame one Ademola Ojabodu, also known as Ojah Bee, for the murder of the police officer, which is the direct opposite of what actually went down, according to eyewitness reports and several videos of the incidence. Amateur eyewitness video showed the moment when the police officer purportedly shot by Ojah Bee was hit by a stray bullet from another reckless policeman.
The summation by many is that the entire Nigerian Police Force has gone rogue, and while some might argue against that assertion using the overwatered trope of “a few bad eggs,” the reality suggests that the fears of many might actually be true. A very good example can be seen in the events that transpired when the release of several protesters like Treasure Nduka, Felicia Okpara, and Ademola Ojabodu, snatched off the streets in Surulere yesterday, was sought. Lawyers tried almost in futility.
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police under the directives of the Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, got involved in the process, and yet, the members of the police force at the Area C Station in Surulere, where these protesters were held, insisted that they had no such people in their custody. Even when the Speaker of the National House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila and his colleague in the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Desmond Elliot got involved, it was not until a few more hours before the police succumbed to pressure and finally released the protesters. All these coming against a backdrop of more assaults by the police, including the physical assault of the mother of one of the arrested protesters when she came to secure the release of her child.
This is just a snapshot of the reality that the Nigerian youths have had to endure every day. A reality where having diversified vocations in information technology or graphic design and online marketing, to name a few; dressing dapper or in urban wear like most young people around the world today; sporting “unconventional haircuts,” dreadlocks, and tattoos; carrying expensive smartphones, laptops and driving relatively expensive cars, are all considered a criminal offence by the members of the rogue SARS unit, and by extension, members of other police units. This has led to the extortion, assault, rape and extrajudicial killing of many young Nigerians over the years. This is the reality that the Nigerian youths have been protesting against over the last couple of days. The question is always this: Is it too much to ask to be young and free to chase your (legal) dreams after your own fashion as a Nigerian? And so far, the answers we’ve gotten from the authorities are very synonymous to yes, but the youths have had enough and demand for a new and better reality, and have refused to back down until their demands are satisfactorily met.