Protests against police violence are on the rise in Nigeria. For a week, the country’s social network has been mobilized by the hashtag “EndSARS”, which calls for the dissolution of the special unit for the suppression of thefts and robberies, accused of serious human rights violations. Online mobilization is impressive and is at the top of the most discussed topics on Twitter globally. But since Thursday, Nigerian youth are also present in the streets.
as reported from Lagos,
This Saturday, new demonstrations took place in Lagos and Abuja, but also in other provinces in the country. The protesters – mostly from the middle class – marched to the door of the house of the deputy general in Lagos in the city’s exclusive neighborhoods. There were a few hundred of them blocking traffic and holding up paper signs. Almost everyone has experienced or witnessed Nigerian police violence.
Comet is reminiscent of this traumatic experience. “It was not even late at night. They stopped us in a quiet street, they took out their weapons, pointed them at us without giving us any reason. They shouted “get out of your car!” We had our hands in the air, we asked them to search us, but they did not listen to us. ”
it is infamous in Nigeria that the police specifically target young people, especially if they are well-dressed and have dreadlocks, tattoos or piercings. To the point of discouraging young people like Manolode from taking to the streets after dark.
“We have to cover our hair, dress like we’re poor, leave our phones at home, we have to hide our bank apps because they’re looking for phones, and if they see you have money, they’re forcing you to withdraw from a distributor before going down there. We live in fear. ”
In a country where street mobilization is rare, young people demand only one thing: the right to live. A wish that they all formulate, like Chiwendu: “We do not ask them to repair our roads, we do not ask for electricity. We are not asking for food or an end to inflation … We are just asking to be able to live freely in the country that is ours. ”
On Twitter, President Muhammadu Buhari expressed his willingness to reform the police. A promise that the Nigerian government has never kept before.
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