October 2020 was different things to different Nigerians across the socio-political spectrum. For the youths, it was a moment of social consciousness, political reawakening and involvement. While for some businesses, security agencies, and governments at all levels, it was a period of doom and catastrophe as they suffered unimaginable losses – of lives and property as rampaging ‘hoodlums’, who were said to have ‘hijacked’ the #EndSARS nationwide protests against police brutality and extrajudicial killings wreaked unimaginable havoc on the nation.
Eight months later, there have been lots of finger-pointing, especially between the Federal Government and the youths also known as the ‘Soro Soke’ generation. ‘Soro Soke’, a Yoruba sentence that translates as ‘Speak Up,’ was a mantra during the #EndSARS protests. Soro Soke is also a metaphor for all Nigerians to speak up against bad governance and resist corrupt leaders.
A major government actor purportedly tackling the ‘Soro Soke’ generation has been the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, who blamed Twitter and its founder, Jack Dorsey, for instigating and supporting the protests. The minister, who also added that Dorsey is vicariously liable for the losses the country suffered during the protest, later announced the suspension of Twitter.
However, checks by NNL showed that the minister’s son, Folajimi Mohammed; Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu; as well as celebrities, religious leaders, commissioners, ministers, amongst other top government officials took part in the nationwide protests last October.
Folajimi, a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly representing Ikeja Constituency 1, had joined other protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate, a significant location in the entire #EndSARS struggle. Branded in a black t-shirt with #EndSARS emblazoned on it in yellow print, the minister’s son uploaded a photo on Instagram showing himself at the Lekki toll gate but he later deleted the post.
Also, Sanwo-Olu visited the toll gate during the protests and identified with the young demonstrators. He further went to Abuja to present their demands to the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).
How it all started
Police brutality and extrajudicial killings have always generated heated reactions from the populace but the rage and international attention these attracted in October 2020 were unprecedented.
On October 3, 2020, a Twitter user, Chinyelugo (@AfricaOfficial2), tweeted about how “SARS (operatives) just shot a young boy dead at Ughelli, Delta State”. SARS is an acronym for Special Anti-Robbery Squad, a (now disbanded) police unit infamous for extrajudicial killings.
Though the claim of the Twitter user could not be substantiated, Chinyelugo’s post, which has over 10,000 retweets, sparked an outrage on the micro-blogging platform that culminated in the #EndSARS movement. The demonstrations held online for days before the young demonstrators took to the streets, blocking major highways for almost two weeks.
Many businesses were affected during the shutdown. The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry said the Nigerian economy lost about N700bn to the #EndSARS protests within two weeks.
Lekki shootings
Though nationwide in form, the protesters were louder in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and a few other cosmopolitan cities where SARS operatives were most notorious. The protests reached a climax on October 20, 2020, when the Lagos State Government imposed a curfew on residents of the state. However, some protesters, who defied the curfew, remained at the Lekki Toll Gate.
The world was alarmed that evening when soldiers stormed the toll gate and allegedly opened fire on unarmed protesters, even though the Nigerian Army has since denied that its men shot live bullets at the toll gate, noting that they were there to enforce the curfew.
However, global civil rights group, Amnesty International, claimed over 10 protesters were killed and many injured by soldiers at the toll gate even though the Federal Government and the Nigerian Army have disputed this claim, saying nobody was killed.
The Lekki shootings sparked nationwide rage with banks, business premises, hospitals, commercial buses, media houses, police stations, prisons, others torched by ‘hoodlums’. The tension was palpable in all parts of the country with state governments imposing 24-hour curfew to curtail the violence. The then Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, also said the Nigeria Police Force lost 22 men, 205 stations, formations to the #EndSARS protests. He had earlier disbanded SARS but the young protesters wanted more, and so, therefore, came up with a five-point demand which includes justice for victims of police brutality.
Many state governments later constituted judicial panels on the restitution of victims of SARS-related abuses but while compensations and hearings are ongoing in some states, Minister Mohammed has at different times after the #EndSARS protests, criticised all those who partook in the demonstration which he termed an insurrection.
Clampdown on #EndSARS campaigners, Twitter
After the nationwide ruin and attacks by ‘hoodlums’, the Federal Government clamped down on the known faces of the #EndSARS protests while the Central Bank of Nigeria blocked the accounts of at least 20 of the young campaigners over their alleged involvement in what the government tagged terrorism-related offences which the young protesters have since denied. Months later, the court, however, ordered the apex bank to unfreeze their accounts.
The Federal Government has since been having a running battle with Twitter since the #EndSARS protests. It claimed the platform supported the mobilisation and coordination of the protest.
On June 4, 2021, Minister Mohammed announced the suspension of Twitter operations in the country citing the “persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence”. Twitter had deleted a controversial civil war post of the President after tweeps reported the tweet.
The Buhari regime has since come under fire for what many termed as a restriction of the right of expression. The international community including the European Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, amongst others have since knocked the Buhari regime for the action but the Federal Government has been unyielding in its stance insisting that the sovereignty of the West African nation must be respected by the tech giant in San Francisco.
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