What is SARS and why are young Nigerians protesting police brutality? Here’s everything you need to know
Protests against the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a notorious unit in the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) reached a crescendo level this week attracting global attention.
This is not the first time young Nigerians will be protesting against SARS. The online protest against the unit which prompted the Twitter hashtag #EndSARS started in 2016 over brutality, harassment, extortion and killing of young Nigerians on trumped up charges by the Police unit.
Here’s everything you need to know about the #EndSARS protest:
SARS is a special unit in the NPF created to combat rampant cases of armed robbery and other violent crimes. Initially named Anti-Robbery Squad, it became known as SARS in Lagos in the early 1990s before spreading to other parts of the country.
The unit has since abandoned its duty of protecting Nigerians; becoming notorious for torturing, extorting, and killing young Nigerians after wrongly profiling them as internet fraudsters, while the government and the police authorities watch without taking any serious action to hold the officers to account.
SARS operatives often operate in plainclothes with heavy weapons and mount roadblocks where they conduct indiscriminate searches, harass and extort citizens and even go as far as killing citizens who refuse to pay bribes to be released.
It is often difficult to differentiate them from armed robbers and kidnappers and other criminals; and no one would dare ask for their ID cards.
Nigeria is one of the most populous black countries in the world, with a youth population of over 70% according to data from the Vice President’s office. Every young Nigerian with either a smartphone, dreadlock, ripped jeans, tattoo, flashy cars or expensive gadgets are the target of SARS who often accuse them of being internet fraudsters or armed robbers.
SARS mode of operation and gestapo style of arresting young Nigerians have fuelled rage
The many atrocities of SARS
Since the #EndSARS activism started in 2016, no fewer than 50 cases of extrajudicial killings of young Nigerians have been reported on social media. While many remain unreported, there have been hundreds of cases of harassment, extortion, and indiscriminate arrest of Nigerians, all linked to SARS.
A recent report by Amnesty International, ‘Time to End Impunity’, documents at least 82 cases of torture, ill treatment and extra-judicial execution by SARS between January 2017 and May 2020. And the victims are predominantly male between the ages of 18 and 35, from low-income backgrounds and vulnerable groups.
The Public Complaint Rapid Response Unit (PCRRU) of the NPF, in its report for the first quarter (Q1) of 2017 said it received over 10,000 complaints against the police across the country.
“The complete failure of Nigerian authorities to bring an end to the gross human rights violations perpetuated by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad or to bring any SARS officer to justice is shocking and unacceptable. Nigerians are outraged by the systemic human rights violations perpetrated by the SARS with impunity,” said Osai Ojigho, Director of Amnesty International Nigeria.
Due to their agonising experience, many young Nigerians say they prefer to run into armed robbers than walking into SARS operatives on the street.
Despite the outcry, anti-torture legislation passed in 2017 and evidence that SARS continue to use torture and other ill-treatment to execute, punish and extract information from suspects, Amnesty International research shows that Nigerian authorities have failed to prosecute a single officer from the notorious SARS.
Government’s inaction and the continued notoriety of SARS led to online activism by young Nigeria calling for a scrap of the unit.
What Nigerians want:
Since the #EndSARS activism started in 2016, many Nigerians on the internet as well as celebrities have thrown their weight behind the movement calling for the scrap of SARS.
Music artiste Wizkid who has consistently spoken against police brutality quoted a tweet by the Lagos State Governor and wrote: “Mr. Governor! I met with you December 2019! You expressed how proud you are of the entertainment industry and all we do. Pls do something, let’s be proud of you too abeg! #Endsars!!”
Like popular Nigerian celebrities Davido, Don Jazzy, Toke Makinwa, Yemi Alade, DJ Cuppy, Mr Macaroni, Falz, Runtown, among others, British-Nigerian actor John Boyega also tweeted in support of the campaign,
“This situation is tied to many other issues. Please lend your attention to this pressing problem!” Boyega wrote.
Cause of new wave of protest
Over the years, several images, videos and stories of police brutality, extortion and killings have been shared on Twitter by young Nigerians who are either calling for help for a loved one arrested or brutalised by SARS or seeking help for themselves.
Another disturbing footage emerged on Twitter on Saturday October 3, 2020, showing SARS operatives allegedly shooting and killing a young man in front of a hotel in Ughelli, Delta state, and speeding off in the victim’s car. Also on the same day, another footage of SARS dragging two men from a Lagos hotel and shooting one of them in the street was shared on Twitter.
The footage sparked anger on social media leading to calls for protests for the ban of SARS. The call for protests has received a new wave of support from music stars with Wizkid, Davido, Runtown, Mr. Macaroni, Toke Makinwa, Falz, leading the pack. Notable Nigerians are not just supporting with social media posts, they’re also leaving the comforts of their homes to join in the protest in Lagos, Abuja, Imo, Delta, Edo, Osun, Ogun and other parts of Nigeria.
What the Nigerian government and Police are saying:
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in a statement by his media aide, Laolu Akande, on Sunday October 4, 2020, said “I am very concerned, in fact, very angry about what I see, happening to young men and women who are arrested, in some cases maimed or killed by men of the police force.”
Also on Sunday, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu, announced the ban of SARS from carrying out routine patrols, stop and search duties, mounting of roadblocks and traffic checks across the country. It is the fourth time in four years that the Police will be making such an announcement but the effect is yet to be seen.
Days after Nigerians took to the streets in protest, President Muhammadu Buhari, on Friday October 9, 2020, finally reacted to the protest that has gained global attention and said he has directed the IGP to reform the FSARS.
He tweeted, “I met again with the IGP tonight. Our determination to reform the police should never be in doubt. I am being briefed regularly on the reform efforts ongoing to end police brutality and unethical conduct, and ensure that the Police are fully accountable to the people.”
Nigerians not retreating yet:
Nigerians are not having all the promises by the government as promises made in the past have failed to end SARS impunity. They described the government’s statements as a way of shutting the people from becoming outraged and taking to the streets over SARS atrocities.
Nigerians are demanding the scrap of the unit and not a reform as the President and IGP have promised.
Young Nigerians leading protests across the country have promised to continue with the demonstration on the streets and on the internet until their demand for the scrap of SARS is met. And the protests are expected to spread to different parts of the world in the coming days.
