The marking of the first anniversary of the EndSARS protest on October 20, 2021, unfortunately, witnessed police harassment and intimidation of youths and activists across the country, especially in Lagos and Abuja. The reported manhandling of some journalists and youths on that day portrayed the police in bad light. The unnecessary show of power is a pointer to the fact that the police have not learnt enough lessons from last year’s protest.
It is sad that the Nigerian Police Force is still operating as an imperial institution. Ahead of the anniversary, the police banned any street protest, engaged in wide-scale show of force across the nation and even occupied the Lekki Toll Gate, Lagos which was the epicentre of the protest last year. The EndSARS protest was historic. It was arguably the biggest public protest by young people in Nigeria in recent times.
The protest against police brutality, which started in Lagos and Abuja, later spread to other states. Scores of protesters and police officers were killed, while public and private buildings were destroyed. Private and public warehouses were also vandalised. At the Lekki Toll Gate, the hotbed of the protest, soldiers reportedly killed scores of protesters. According to Amnesty International, at least 56 people died across the nation during the protest. The excesses of the notorious operatives of the police Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and other factors such as poverty and unemployment largely contributed to the protest.
The youths used the occasion to call for action against insecurity, corruption, unemployment and bad governance. The protest shook the foundation of the nation before it was violently quelled by soldiers. A five-point demand was made by the youths, which included disbandment of SARS, compensation for the families of victims of police brutality, the release of arrested protesters and enhancement of the welfare of police personnel.
Others include the setting up of investigative panels across the country on police brutality, prosecution of those indicted, as well as a psychological evaluation of officers of the disbanded SARS before being reabsorbed into other units of the force.
But one year after, the demands have yet to be met. The disbandment of SARS can be said to have been done subtly without the needed reformation of its operatives. The change from SARS to SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) Team is seen by all as a mere change of nomenclature. To the youths and indeed many Nigerians, there is no difference between the disbanded SARS and the hurriedly established SWAT that replaced the former.
Of the 29 states that set up judicial panels, only eight submitted their reports. Some states such as Lagos and Ekiti have reportedly paid some compensation to the victims. The Federal Capital Territory panel has not been able to sit frequently owing to cash crunch. Also of much concern is the incapacity of the panels to investigate police misconduct and prosecution of the indicted.
Allegations of torture, extra-judicial killings, extortion, indiscriminate arrests, abuse of power by security agencies, illegal detention, sexual and gender-based violence contained in some of the petitions have not been investigated due to lack of cooperation from the police and other security agencies. This also hampered the job of the panels.
And from the promise of engaging the youths in dialogue, the Federal Government launched a manhunt for key figures of the protest for punishment. Their bank accounts were frozen, travel documents confiscated and some arrested. On the demand for improved remuneration package for the police, nothing has changed so far and the psychological evaluation of SARS officers’ for redeployment to other units was not carried out.
The general overhaul of the police force was not implemented. If anything, corruption, abuse of power and other ills of the police have deepened, making frustrated youths to either emigrate to other countries or stay back to fight for another day.
We urge the government to revisit the demands of the youths and address them. Any attempt to sweep them under the carpet will only lead to further protests in the future. Since the youths are the future of a nation, they must be factored in the nation’s development agenda.