A query that perplexes many younger Nigerians is: If protest does not work, what else can save them from unhealthy governance? 4 years in the past, younger Nigerians took to the streets of Nigeria, holding flags and elevating their arms, in peaceable demonstrations towards police violence. Simply when their voices gave the impression to be heard. As in the event that they had been going to get justice, they had been met with gunfire and tear fuel in Lekki on October 2 after they met with injustice by the hands of the Particular Anti-Theft Squad (SARS) of the Nigeria Police Power. Tollbooth; the incident was so brutal that it become a bloodbath. Lekki Bloodbath.
Since this bloodbath, the historic wrestle for justice has been characterised by little acknowledgment of the lives misplaced and a collection of gaslighting, lies and manipulation by governments and authorities tasked with defending the lives and property of Nigerians.
Whereas the federal government has been indoctrinating Nigerian youths that the protests usually are not occurring, there are a number of plain items of proof. We are going to proceed to recollect the names of lives misplaced; A younger Nigerian stood watching a protest from a distance and was hit with a bullet; A younger Nigerian tweeted “Nigeria won’t finish me” tweet and had been killed in the midst of the wrestle inside 24 hours of posting that tweet, whereas many others who weren’t even taking part within the protests had been killed. This reveals how obligatory and justified protests are. Nonetheless. Nonetheless. Nonetheless.
However we are going to always remember; the lives misplaced, the carnage and the names of everybody who continues to assist the #EndSARS protests.
Since October 20, 2020, many inventive works corresponding to tweets, books, movies, songs, and documentaries have been created to commemorate this occasion and honor those that gave their lives for it. These works intention to make sure an correct illustration of their deaths and the #EndSARS protests.
have Chude Jideowo“Awaiting Trial” is a documentary that follows the lives of three individuals who had been unjustly imprisoned by the Nigerian police. It explores this distinctive mixture of injustice and inequality that led to international #EndSARs protests.
have burna boy’s 20 10 20, the music straight addresses the Lekki toll gate taking pictures on October 20, 2020 through the #EndSARS protests. These embody the voices of protesters and shootings by Nigerian troops. This emotional music is necessary as a result of it reminds us of horrific occasions even after we appear to have forgotten.
have Communicate Out: Anthology of #EndSARS Digital archive of poetry on the 2020 Finish SARS marketing campaign on BrittlePaper. The print version of this anthology re-articulates comparable poetics of resistance, highlighting the optimistic voices of a brand new technology of writers resisting the tyranny of silence and state violence.
4 years have handed and the journey feels distant. Nonetheless, we pay tribute to those that labored exhausting to make sure that this motion and the cherished reminiscences of these we now have misplaced reside on. We’re grateful to all those that proceed to talk out for this trigger, advocate for justice via their actions and phrases, and honor the useless.
Allow us to proceed to hunt justice for family and friends whose lives had been minimize quick, for many who had been dismembered, for people whose lives had been disrupted, and for future generations but to be born. Sending love and light-weight to us all.
#ENDSARS!
