PROTESTS have been taking place in London on Monday against Nigeria’s Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).
The #ENDSARS protests featured a speech from Nigerian singer WizKid. The rapper had previously called out the country’s president, Muhammadu Buhari, over his silence regarding the prevalence of SARS in Nigeria recently.
The SARS unit has become notorious in Nigeria, and have carried out stop and search missions, being accused of police brutality in the process as well as extortion. The #ENDSARS hashtag has begun trending on Twitter recently, with calls from Nigerians for the unit to be disbanded intensifying.
“For Nigerians youths, don’t let anyone tell you you don’t have a voice,” WizKid told the crowd at today’s (October 11) protest (seen in the video below), speaking after the country’s Inspector General of Police announced that SARS would be dissolved.
WizKid later tweeted: “This is just the beginning!! We won our fight to #ENDSARS .. now Reform the Nigerian police!! #Endpolice brutality! We deserve good governance.
“Now my people .. you see what our voices did…this is the beginning of a new Nigeria! Nigerian youths!! Know your rights and fight for it ! You deserve it. We all deserve it!!”
He added: “This is not about me/You or any individual !! This is for us and the next generation to come! Love everybody!”
Speaking of the decision to disband SARS, Amnesty International Nigeria director Osai Ojigho said: “The Nigerian authorities must go beyond lip service and ensure there is real reform.”
(SOURCE: NME)
