Endsars Protest (My Experience)

Endsars is a protest that started in Nigeria in October 2020 ignited by the constant abuse of the rights of citizens which led to unlawful killing of unarmed civilians who came together to protest for a change and the disbandment of the rogue police unit called SARS.

SARS which stands for "Special Anti Robbery Squad" is a tactical unit of the Nigerian Police force which was set up to tackle "Robbery Cases only" but instead they became everything they were not mobilized for.

It all got bad when reports of SARS officials started patrolling, arresting innocent people, torturing and even killing those unwilling to comply with them. They were several cases of officers doing stop and search operations and stealing cars of anyone refusing to give them money, they will beat you up arrest you and even shot you. The shooting part became the most common part of their duty as they will use the statement "I go shoot you nothing go happen" then go ahead to commit it.

Nigerians are the most patient citizens in the world I can say that with all calmness. This issue of Police brutality and bad governance has been on for decades and Nigerians kept overlooking until in SEPTEMBER 2020 when some SARS operatives in Benin, Edo State shot a young man and took his car which sparked a riot in the city. The same week this incident occurred an officer in the city of Port Harcourt also shot a young boy for not allowing him access to his mobile phone same story in Lagos all these triggered a nation wide protest that lasted for about a month.

20th October 2020 is a day we will never forget in Nigeria. It is the day the Nigerian Presidency ordered the army to kill peaceful protesters.

It all started that morning after Nigerian youths have shot down activities in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Benin, Asaba, Abuja and almost all the major cities demanding for a change and the disbandment of the SARS Unit youths slept on the streets nights after nights until that morning. We got information that they will be a peaceful walk to the government house in Port Harcourt so early that morning I took my bath hooked up with some friends took a cab to the rally point. we then started the walk, it was so heart warming seeing hundreds of you mates demanding a change "I couldn't be more proud of my generation".

Well, that joy didn't last long as stories started reaching us of happenings in Abuja, Benin and most of all Lagos😥 about the government making plans of invading protest grounds with the military and stuff like that which caused an unrest amongst us but that didn't stop us as we stormed the state house and made our demands known to the governor who came out to address us.

In the evening of that faithful day I had just got home to refresh when I heard they is a fight between the Fulani people living in an area called ""Oil Mill" in Port Harcourt and things escalated that night that led to the slaughter of hundreds of people in a community called "Oyigbo" by the army and the community locked down. Meanwhile, in Abuja touts were paid by government officials to disrupt the protest, destroy things and blame it on the peace protesters, that led to shooting and killing of a few protesters by the Police and many more were arrested and detained till today, they have been refused trial. While all these incidents occurred around the country, Lagos was on fire 🔥 as a major government heists had been initiated.

Lagos was the heart of the #Endsars protest so there was no better place for the government to strike to disrupt the protest that have lasted almost a close to 3 weeks. The Lagos protest had its anchor point at the Lekki Toll Gate. At about 8pm a strange wicked, heartless plan was about to be executed as they was news of the army approaching the Lekki Toll Gate with pickup trucks and their military vehicle fully armed. On getting to the venue they fired their guns straight on unarmed protesters who where bearing the flag and sitting on the floor, they were executed😢 killed in cold blood while they sang the national anthem. The shot them it was a massacre.

Then next day the army denied their presence at the crime scene not to talk of even killing anyone, few hours later they agreed to the fact that they were present but they denied firing any gun, later they said yes we fired but it wasn't real bullets and we fired into the air not the crowd despite all video evidence showing them as they commit these atrocities.

They have been several attempts by the committee that was set up to investigate the crimes of the Buhari led adminstration but so far its been over a year now and just a little success have been achieved as the government has admitted to the presence of the military and the killing of citizens but up till now no one has been held accountable...

we'll keep fighting for a better Nigeria because we deserve better.. Nigeria must rise .