The #EndSARS protest would be remembered for a very long time in Nigeria history as the period Nigerian youths rose and spoke with one voice against the Police brutality meted to them especially by the group called SARS
. It also encompasses the general ineptitude in governance which led to their elongated protest demanding for a true change before some hoodlums high jacked the entire protest and made a mess of it.
Below are the message from the genuine protesters who feel aggrieved for how the entire process finally spanned.
A Message from #EndSARS Protesters
Good Evening,
In 2 weeks Nigerian youth created an administration that worked.
• We raised funds. We fed thousands of people, people were actually returning food saying “i have eaten, pass it to people at the back”.
• We provided security for ourselves.
• We set up a legal team that bailed protesters out of police dungeons.
• We created a health care system that worked.
• We created a call center, basically our own 911 that you could call for ANYTHING protest based.
• We provided basic amenities. We made sleeping on the protest grounds more comfortable than what many Nigerians had at home.
And we did it together. Everybody just stood up one morning and said “i can provide this”. And they did.
*What did the government do in return?*
• First they tried to look for who to bribe. They kept asking “who is your leader”? We responded: “We have no leader”, “Jimoh/Chijioke is our leader, raise him from the grave and talk to him”. They didnt have anyone to bribe or intimidate.
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• Next, they tried to sow seeds of discord and confusion, saying “Igbos are this, Muslims are that, CoVID19 is spreading … “. We responded “Okay. We will tolerate eachother now and your bullets have killed more people than CoVID19”
• Finally, they weaponised the poverty they created. They sent thugs in the North, thugs in the west, thugs in the south. They paid 1500 naira. Do you know how much poverty of the mind and soul, a person has to be in, to accept N1500 to maim people?
• They sent these people to disrupt our peaceful protests, to loot, to cause mayhem so that they could have an excuse to give the world.
• And finally, they sent in the Nigerian Military. The people that are sworn to defend Nigerians. Guns blazing, they came. Shooting at peaceful people. They shot at people who sat on the floor, singing the national anthem and raising flags.
• They took away the dead bodies to erase evidence. They took away the cameras and burnt the ones the could not disconnect.
• But we had our phones. The protests that started on our phones were broadcasted using our phones. The evidence is public. It can never be erased.
Now we know this poverty is not a mistake. The high illiteracy in this country is not a mistake. We know that the government has to keep people suffering because they need poor and uneducated people to carry out their orders.
_While we tend to our wounds, the fight is not over. We will restrategise and come back. We had hope for 2 weeks. People died to keep the hope alive. So we will come back._
_We will interact with the uneducated and poor ones in our communities. We will educate them. We will help those we can. We will let them see how this is also their fight. We will let them understand that they are helping their oppressors. And then, We will come back. We are sad. We are upset, We are angry. But we have not given up._
#ENDSARS