Nigeria’s youth, leading celebrities, and activists have organized mass protests across the country demanding an end to police brutality.
The protests are a culmination of years of harassment, kidnapping, and extortion by a police unit known as the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS). This week, a video of a man allegedly being killed by police went viral and sparked anger and outcry online by the country’s young people, inspiring the hashtag “#EndSARS.”
The hashtag has blown up on social media with a lot of people sharing their traumatic experiences with SARS. What’s happening in Nigeria demonstrates how the systemic abuse of power by police is not just an American phenomenon but is equally worth our attention.
What is SARS?
The Special Anti-Robbery Squad, or SARS, is a special branch of the Nigerian police created to fight violent crime. However, SARS has become associated with human rights abuses. For years, SARS has been responsible for widespread torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment (other ill-treatment) of detainees in their custody, including hanging, severe beating, extra-judicial killings, and sexual harassment of women.
According to a 2016 report by Amnesty International, abuse at the hands of SARS in Nigeria is widespread and routine. And SARS officers involved in the torture and other ill-treatment of civilians are rarely held to account.
To make matters worse, the Nigerian human rights organizations Network on Police Reform in Nigeria (NOPRIN) reports that “confessions” obtained from suspects through torture by the police are admissible and used in courts as a basis for conviction.
SARS especially targets young people and women
Many people are using this moment to share stories of brutality attributed to the police unit, notably its notoriety for unduly profiling young people and women.
Those considered “flashy” often attract officers’ attention. People report being targeted for having dreadlocks, tattoos, wearing jewelry or AirPods; And very few walk away without having to hand over money, while others are abused, arrested, or jailed on trumped-up charges and some have been killed.
Below are just some accounts of harassment by SARS officers.
The shootings that inspired the protests
A video surfaced last week of officers dragging two men’s limp bodies out of a hotel, before shooting one of the men on the street.
The video sparked a deluge of footage and stories posted on to social media alleging other atrocities and brutality by the notorious SARS unit.
One of the videos posted on Twitter showed officers shooting a motorist and dumping him on the roadside before speeding away from the scene with the victim’s vehicle.
Last year, the shooting of Kolade Johnson reignited a public call for the shutdown of the controversial police unit in the country.
What has the reaction been?
Protesters in Lagos and Abuja have been met with tear gas to disperse protesters, according to witness accounts. The protesters are demanding that the unit be disbanded rather than reformed.
In response to the video of the man being shot by officers in a hotel, authorities have only responded to deny the footage is real and the man who filmed the video was arrested – provoking even more anger.
And as pressure mounts, the authorities have begun to give in. On Sunday, October 11, Nigeria’s police force officially announced that SARS, as well as other tactical police units, are now prohibited from “carrying out routine patrols and other conventional low-risk duties – stop and search duties, checkpoints, mounting of roadblocks, traffic checks, etc – with immediate effect,” Nigeria police chief Mohammed Adamu said in a statement.
Then, this weekend, the Nigerian government revealed it is disbanding the SARS, altogether.
However, more still needs to be done. It remains to be seen whether the unit will, in fact, be disbanded. Protesters and activists are also calling for compensation for victims of SARS brutality, both alive and dead, and demand an independent investigation into the present and past grievances around SARS brutality, bringing officers to justice.
As the hashtag continues to trend, celebrities and personalities in Nigeria and beyond are demanding justice and raising awareness about these horrific incidences of police brutality.
Past promises
As monumental as the changes announced by Nigerian authorities are, this isn’t the first time similar promises have been made. Many Nigerians have lost hope at the prospect of any real change.
Two years ago, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo tweeted that he had directed that the “management and activities of SARS” should be overhauled “with immediate effect”… then nothing happened.
Then last year, a special Presidential Panel was formed to reform the unit. At the time, President Buhari gave the head of police three months to work out how to implement the recommendations, but critics say little appears to have changed.
Amnesty Nigeria’s program manager, Seun Bakare, told CNN that earlier bans on SARS did not change much because they “were simply done to assuage the swelling public anger at the time of the announcement and not intended to end police brutality.”
Even so, Nigeria’s youth are fighting to see a change in their country, and with the world watching, hopefully, this change will indeed come to pass.
Source: www.highsnobiety.com
