Tuesday, October 13, 2020 / 08:37AM / By
Reuben Abati / Header Image Credit: KOKO TV Nigeria
The increase in
the pump price of fuel, in 2020, a fall-out of the deregulation of the
downstream sector, did not compel the youths of Nigeria to troop out onto the
streets. The additional hike in electricity tariffs was not enough to ignite
their anger either. The government of the day explained to the people that the
additional burden of higher prices was part of the sacrifice they had to make
as citizens. The impact of COVID-19 was hobbling the country: loss of revenue,
inflation, a weak national currency, foreign exchange crisis. The people showed
understanding. The strongest point about the average Nigerian is that he or she
is resilient, long-suffering, yet ever ready to give up a little comfort for
the country's sake. Nigerian leaders do not show as much readiness or patriotism
in the same manner. Nonetheless, Nigerians continue to endure, but the lesson
of the #EndSARS crisis that has now engulfed the country is that it is not good
to take the people's patience for granted.
Last week, it
took an encounter between a young man and the notorious Federal Special
Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS) in Ughelli, Delta State, for the people to cry out
and show their outrage over unending cases of police brutality. A young man by
name Ochuko, was first said to have been killed by the men of the FSARS. It was
later established that he did not die. He was brutalized. His vehicle was
seized by the police. He ended up in hospital. The Minister of State for Labour
and Employment, Festus Keyamo, SAN who was born in Ughelli intervened and tried
to explain. He said the victim was alive and that in fact, the outfit involved
in the encounter was not SARS, but Operation Delta Safe. These were policemen
all the same. The youths of Ughelli therefore turned their anger on the police.
Whether it was Operation Delta Safe or SARS did not matter, the truth is that
the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad established in 1992 has over the years
become synonymous with impunity and brutality.
CSP Simeon
Danladi Midenda (assisted by DSP Taiwo Lakanu) who helped to set up the unit as
a default strategy at the time, is on record as having said that the unit, one
of 14 in the Nigeria Police Crime and Intelligence Division, has "deviated from
the original concept." The exact nature of that deviation is that over the
years, Nigerians concluded that FSARS had transformed from being a
crime-fighting unit of the Nigeria Police into a criminal unit, granted
automatic immunity by official status and the guns that they wield. Rather than
fight armed robbery, SARS officials spent more time terrorizing Nigerians. The
many stories that have been written about this unit of the Nigeria Police
convey a picture of how Nigeria itself has deteriorated and how institutions of
state can be easily used to condone and promote impunity. In 1971, Nigerian
policemen killed Kunle Adepeju, a promising Nigerian student at the University
of Ibadan, who was not even involved in a protest about the inefficiency and
incompetence of a University catering manager.
In April 1978,
the police killed Nigerian students for daring to query the then Olusegun
Obasanjo military regime. The government had increased the cost of
meal on campuses by 50k per day. The students revolted. The Nigeria Police,
this same one, joined by soldiers who were called out to quell the protests,
littered every campus from Zaria to Lagos with corpses. In 1981, they killed
Dele Udoh, a 24-year old, award winning athlete. He was gunned down
for having the temerity to argue with a policeman. With the emergence of a unit
of the Nigeria Police Force called Nigerian Mobile Police (MOPOL) Nigerians
were finally confronted with the spectre of police brutality in full force. It
was a para-military police unit. It would eventually distinguish itself
internationally and bring laurels to Nigeria in UN, AU, ECOWAS international
peace-keeping operations. But locally, the MOPOL, as it was called, was known
for its human rights abuses. Under Inspector-General of Police, Sunday Adewusi
(1981- 1983), the MOPOL became so notorious, so evil, that it was called the
"Kill and Go Police".
After
dismissing the civilian Shehu Shagari administration in 1983, the military
rulers that came after had to whittle down the influence of the MOPOL. It had
become a threat not just to society but also the military. MOPOL may
have been bad but SARS is worse. Nigeria's Special Anti-Robbery Squad inherited
the "Kill and Go" label and turned it into a shameless brand. Nobody is spared.
You only need to drive a good car, wear dreadlocks, look like you had just
returned from an overseas trip, speak with a foreign accent, or look like the
son or daughter or wife of a rich man, or make the mistake of being seen with
an expensive phone or tablet, and you automatically become a target. Walking
too confidently on the streets of Nigeria is now regarded as a crime by SARS
policemen and yet, the Nigerian Constitution guarantees the freedom of
movement. SARS officials pry into people's bags, enter their houses and look
into soup pots and refrigerators, and ask for a share of family assets or else,
they will "kill and go" and as they often say, "nothing will
happen". And indeed, often, and always, nothing happens, and if
anything happens at all, such policemen are protected by the police and
subsequently rewarded with promotion and better postings. They are not
answerable to anybody in the state to which they are deployed. They operate as
a Federal Force! This is exactly the problem. A Police system that is supposed
to protect the safety of lives and property but which operates like an enemy of
the people, and the state lacks the will to do what is right, is a threat to
everyone.
It has been
argued that we should never have expected, and should not expect much from the
Modern Nigeria Police. It was established by the colonial authorities
as a force of domination, division, suppression, and control, and so the
argument goes, we should expect the Modern Nigeria Police Force to remain true
to its antecedents. The weakness of that argument is that it props up colonial
determinism. It has been 60 years after independence. We can't keep blaming the
past. My take, in fact is that the colonial police master is much better than
the post-colonial police masters we now have. Present day internal colonialists
are far less human than the British colonialists. There are many Nigerians who
will readily argue that colonialism had its good sides, highlighted ironically
by the wickedness of a generation that inherited independence and subverted it.
Too many panels
and committees have been set up to reform the Nigeria Police: why has that not
worked? For more than 40 years, civil society groups in Nigeria and the
International Community have been drawing attention to human rights abuses by
the Nigeria Police: why has nobody listened? Every Inspector General of Police
since the 1990s has talked about Police Reform, Police decentralization, Police
restructuring, but that has also not worked. The current #EndSARS protest is a
response to years of inaction and the deafness of the Nigerian state. The
argument is not about a colonial heritage. It is about the failure of
leadership. This is worsened by the fact that the protesters do not trust the
Nigerian government anymore. There is nothing new about police brutality and
the violation of human rights by the Nigerian State, but the people have seen
that it may never end. For the past four years, there have been similar
protests and demands. This is not the first time Government will restructure
the notorious SARS or direct that checkpoints should be disbanded. In 2017,
2018, 2019, the police hierarchy gave the same directives. The police simply
went about their duties and punished the people even more. It is tragic to have
a Police system that the people do not trust.
After the
aforementioned Ughelli incident, the Inspector General of Police - Mohammed
Adamu announced that SARS officials had been ordered off the streets,
checkpoints banned and that every SARS official must wear a uniform. The public
laughed. They dismissed the directive as "an audio directive." AUDIO used in
that context in Nigeria's street talk means mere sound, nothing of substance,
it can be heard but there is nothing to it because it is deceptive and
dishonest. The people have been proven right. When a people begin to call those
who are supposed to protect them liars and hypocrites, something has gone crazy
in that society, and a bomb is ticking. Indeed, within 24 hours after the IGP's
mollifying directives, SARS officials were seen again on the streets, acting
like emperors as usual. The people then resolved that "Enough is
Enough". In Ughelli, Lagos, Osogbo, Abuja, and elsewhere, they confronted the
SARS officials. The Police fought back. Nigeria now looks like a scene out of
William Shakespeare's Coriolanus. "Na on top that
matter we dey since oh" as the people say.
The people
standing up to the Nigeria Police are to be exact, the youths of Nigeria. The
#EndSARS campaign is an expression of youth power. What we have seen is a whole
generation speaking up. Their protest goes beyond police brutality. It is an
outflow of pent up anger about how Nigeria has been mismanaged over the years.
It is a protest about the failure of the state, the reign of impunity and the
abuse of uniform, not just by the police, but Customs, Immigration, Civil
Defence, Road Safety officials, and anyone who wears an official uniform and
thinks he or she has been empowered to humiliate and oppress less privileged
Nigerians. But the Phoenix has risen. Before now, many young
Nigerians kept calling on the older generation of activists to speak up for
them about contemporary issues. The majority actually thought the duty of
liberating Nigeria should be carried out by the same set of old actors. This
time, new heroes and heroines have shown up from the most unlikely quarters.
Their protest goes beyond police brutality. It demonstrates the power of
technology and the nature of a modern revolution and its potency. The Arab
Spring was triggered off in December 2010, by an act of self-immolation by a
Tunisian youth in protest over police corruption and brutality. In Nigeria, a
Revolutionary Spring has been afoot for days. Well, almost.
Nigerian youths
took over not just the streets of Nigeria, they possessed the international
social media space. They ignited the fire of patriotism at home and in
Diaspora. There have been protests by Nigerians across the world- in Paris,
London, Johannesburg, Monrovia, Dublin and elsewhere. On Twitter, a dedicated
team called out international celebrities and governments to help defend the
rights of Nigerians to live in peace in their country. Within 24
hours, the #EndSARS campaign became the Number one trending topic on social
media worldwide. Governments and embassies joined the protest, calling on the
Nigerian government to address the grievances of its angry citizens. I saw
Drake, Cardi B, John Boyega, Trey Songz, Chance the Rapper, Estelle, global cultural
figures asking questions about Nigeria. It was in the government's interest to
respond. The IGP has now announced a complete disbandment of the Special
Anti-Robbery Squad, but two days later, nobody trusted him. Nigerian youths
shouted "AU-DI-O". They have remained on the streets. They have asked that the
President of Nigeria Muhammadu Buhari must address the nation. He has now done
so. It was in his interest to do so. Every step that has been taken by the
Nigerian government in the last three days is not because the government
listens, but a response to a desperate situation. #EndSARS was beginning to
graduate to an #EndNigeria campaign. Even the Vice President and one of his
daughters joined the campaign. One of the President's daughters, Zahra Buhari
also tweeted on the side of the people. The children of both billionaires and
the poor are united. One of them, DJ Cuppy, has said she had to defy other
people's counsel but as a young Nigerian she felt obliged to speak up.
The #EndSARS
campaign has produced new heroes. We have seen an expression of youth anger and
patriotism that we never expected was possible. Omoyele Sowore, the activist
who ignited the fire that now burns, must be pleased. The other hero is Aisha
Yesufu, the foster daughter of the North, who has emerged as a symbol of the
protest. There is Rinu, the young lady who acted as spokesperson at the Lagos
State House of Assembly. And Segun Awosanya, the #EndSARS architect and spirit.
Deji Adeyanju. Dipo Awojide. Reno Omokri. There are others: those
who lived, those who died, the living ancestors, and members of Corporate
Nigeria who stood up to be counted. The Nollywood and Creative Industry team
gave verve to the protest: Falz the Bad Guy, Wizkid, Davido, Tiwa Savage, Paul
Okoye, Rema, Don Jazzy, Mike Edwards, Genevieve Nnaji, Toke Makinwa, too many
to mention... and the BBNaija queen - Tacha showing that far beyond beauty and
brains, conscience matters... Notably, there is no single hero. The youths of
Nigeria led themselves. They blocked politicians from hijacking the protest,
and therein lies the strength of this unfolding Nigerian story. We have not yet
seen the end of it. It is a much bigger story: the story of how a strategic
police unit that used to be known as the "Scorpions" ended up as a group of
"Monkeys", looking for "Bananas", so badly they became involved in land
matters, snatched ATM cards, and became
"AsSARSins."
Related to Nigeria Police:
1.
PDF: Establishment,
Composition and Training of Nigeria Police SWAT To Replace the Disbanded SARS
2.
The #EndSARS
Protests and the Problem of Police Reform in Nigeria - CSL
Research, October 15, 2020
3.
#EndSars Protest
Movement A Watershed Moment in the Quest for Genuine Change in Nigeria - Ahmed Sule, Proshare,
October 15, 2020
4.
SARS and The
Youth Revolt - Olusegun Adeniyi, Thisday, October 15, 2020
5. Appeal court
declares Police Act 2020 illegal, nullifies constable recruitment - Punch, October 14,
2020
6.
A Nigerian
internet or social media shutdown? What to know and do - TechCabal, October
14, 2020
7.
Presidential
Panel on Police Reforms Swings Into Action, Okays 5-Point Demand of Protesters
- State
House, Proshare, October 13, 2020
8.
#EndSARS: Almost
a Nigerian Revolution - Reuben Abati,
Proshare, October 13, 2020
9.
VIDEO: #EndSARS:
President Buhari Reaffirms Disbandment of FSARS, Assures Nigerians of Police
Reforms - WebTV, October 12, 2020
10.
#EndSARS: IGP
Orders Immediate Dissolution of FSARS Formation Nationwide - Proshare, October 11,
2020
11.
Download PDF: Order and
Directives - Restrictions on The Operations of Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad - Proshare, October 11,
2020
12.
VIDEO: #EndSARS:The
Quest For Reforms And Effective Policing In Nigeria - WebTV, October 10, 2020
13.
President Buhari
Signs the Nigeria Police Bill 2020 into Law - Proshare, September 17,
2020
14.
PDF: Nigeria Police
Force (Establishment) Bill 2020
15.
The Kolade
Johnson Killing: #ENDSARS #ReformPoliceNG Group Calls for Signing of Police
Reform Bill - Proshare, April 05, 2019
16.
VIDEO: Kolade Johnson
Killing: #ENDSARS #ReformPoliceNG Group Call for Signing of Police Reform Bill - WebTV, April 05, 2019
17.
NBS Publishes
2019 Corruption in Nigeria Survey Report - Proshare, December 06,
2019
18.
134,663 Crime
Cases Were Reported in 2017 - NBS - Proshare, June 26, 2018
19.
National
Corruption Survey: Corruption in Nigeria - Bribery as Experienced by the
Population - Proshare, August 16, 2017
20.
Ag. President,
Prof Yemi Osinbajo Orders Overhaul of SARS Wing of Nigeria Police
21.
FGN and
Governors Ready to Decentralise Policing In Nigeria; State Policing Not
Resolved
22.
Beyond Politics
- A Government Within A Government Has Always Existed
23.
National Human
Rights Commission Begins Audit of Police Detention Cells in Nigeria
24.
PDF: Police Affairs /
Budgets
25.
PDF: Police
Formations & Commands / Budgets
26.
Public Order,
Safety and Crime Statistics
27.
PHCN, Police
Most Corrupt in Nigeria, By ICPC - Proshare, June 29, 2006
Previous
Posts by Dr. Reuben Abati
1.
How Organized Labour Deceived
Nigerians, Again! - Abati
2.
God-wins, Edo and Lessons Learnt
3.
Nigeria and the Southern Kaduna Question
5.
Thoughts on Nigeria and Chinese Loans - Reuben Abati
6.
NDDC and Other Stories of Dysfunction and Impunity
7.
Governance Beyond COVID-19: Back to Kwara
8.
Coping with Coronanomics - Abati
9.
Corona Blues - Abati -
Apr 07, 2020
10. The Psychology of COVID-19 - Abati
11. Amotekun: The Politics of Protection - Abati
12. New Electricity Tariffs: Questions by Reuben Abati - Jan
07, 2020
13. Omoyele Sowore: Portrait of A Life in Protest - Abati - Dec
10, 2019
14. Of Constituency Offices and Projects - Abati - Dec 03, 2019
15. The Supreme Court and the Atiku Election Petition -
Abati - Nov 05, 2019
16. The Constitutional Crisis in Kogi - Abati -
Oct 30, 2019
17. The Spiritual Solution to Boko Haram - Abati - Oct
08, 2019
18. Oct 1: The Journey So Far - Oct
01, 2019
19. Presidential Powers and The Vice President - Sept
24, 2019
20. Nigeria, Xenophobia and Ramaphosa's Apology - Sept
18, 2019
21. Mohammed Adoke Writes Back - Sept
18, 2019
22. P and ID vs. Nigeria: A Review by Reuben Abati -
Sept 10, 2019
23. When Soldiers Do Police Work: Disaster - Aug
14, 2019
24. Peter Drucker and The Things That Changed
25. FBI, Nigerian Fraudsters and Other Stories
26. P and ID vs. Nigeria: A Review by Reuben Abati
27. When Soldiers Do Police Work: Disaster
29. The Speech Buhari Didn't Make
30. The People's Revolt in Algeria and Sudan
31. The Obasanjo Bombshell - Abati
32. Ogun 2019 Politics and Deployment of Violence - My
Encounter
33. Chief Anthony Anenih: A Personal and Political
Portrait
34. The
"Oshiomhole Must Go" Coalition
35. Beyond Fayose: The Future of Ekiti State
36. The "Spirit of Error" in Nigerian Politics
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