Pictured above: Anti-SARS protests. Image courtesy of Wikimedia
By Madhavi Rao ’24
Staff Writer
Nigeria has been in a state of massive civil unrest for the past few weeks as large numbers of the public gather to protest the notoriously corrupt Special Anti-Robbery Squad. The protests started after a video was released of unprovoked SARS officers killing a man in Ughelli on Oct. 3, as reported by The New York Times. The protests have gained international support, with #EndSARS trending on Twitter. The government has responded to the dissent with harsh crackdowns and violence toward protesters.
Anti-robbery units were established in Nigeria in 1984 to tackle the issues of armed robbery and violent crime, which were prevalent in Lagos and southern Nigeria at the time. These units took the form of SARS in 1992, which was created as a means of monitoring the actions of criminal gangs through undercover surveillance, necessitating the group’s anonymity.
In the years that followed, the inconspicuousness of SARS allowed officers within the department to disregard the law. Amnesty International stated that SARS has resorted to the routine use of torture in investigations and frequent extrajudicial killings. Amnesty International went on to state that SARS has been known to target youth, particularly those of a lower socioeconomic status, subjecting them to unlawful arrest, torture in confinement and extortion to secure their release.
Nimira Nelson ’22, social chair of Mount Holyoke’s Association of Pan-African Unity, commented on the issue. “It saddens me deeply to see that not only has SARS been extremely violent for years, but they continued to perpetuate this violence in the middle of a pandemic when most Nigerians were already struggling with all kinds of issues, namely the devastating poverty as a result of terrible governance,” Nelson said.
Nelson also expressed her deep frustration with how SARS treats young people specifically. “To also hear that SARS officers are often violent toward young people because they are dressed a certain way, or are in possession of expensive items such as AirPods or iPhones, angers me because in a country with so many issues, a 2-year-old with a smartphone should be the least of anyone’s worries.”
The Nigerian public first started protesting SARS in 2017, and outrage against the corrupt police force has been rising ever since. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari issued a statement on Oct. 12, during the most recent protests, vowing to disband SARS and enact extensive reforms. Omobolanle Adams, a Nigerian graduate student at Boston University, commented on these recent developments for The New York Times, stating, “The government disbanded SARS in 2017, in 2018 and in 2019. We’re not buying it this time.”
The 2020 anti-SARS protests have grown to oppose police brutality as a whole. According to Al-Jazeera, the protesters’ demands include justice for the deceased victims of all police brutality and the accountability of the perpetrators for their violence against the people.
Bonfas Owinga, a visiting lecturer in politics at Mount Holyoke, explained how the government might improve the situation. “They should compensate the victims of state violence and prosecute SARS officers involved in torture, killings and … violence on the streets that led to several deaths of unarmed civilians. There must be an honest dialogue with the Nigerian society for healing to begin.”
The government’s response to the protests has also sparked backlash among the public. On Oct. 20, the police opened fire on groups of protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos, resulting in several injuries and deaths, as reported by The New York Times. This led to a fresh wave of protests against the brutal crackdown on dissent by the authorities.
Nelson expressed her dissatisfaction with the government’s response to the incident at the Lekki Toll Gate, calling it “deplorable.”
“According to reports I saw on social media, the military was rolled out and they turned off the lights and cameras at the Toll Plaza and began shooting at the protesters,” Nelson said. “Even scarier, apparently the soldiers then came to pick up some of the dead bodies, so the death toll is probably wildly inaccurate.”
“We may not ever know who was killed that night when all they asked for was to be treated like citizens instead of criminals,” Nelson continued. “To add salt to the wound, Nigerian government officials are using these tragedies as a way to warn the youth to stop protesting, or to blame them for what has transpired.”
The movement, which is spearheaded by the Nigerian youth, has garnered the support of many people across the world. Owinga went on to say that the response to the protests “literally transformed the movement. It also further attracted more international attention and support for the movement from celebrities, Nigerians in the diaspora, [the] Congressional Black Caucus in the U.S. [and] the Black Lives Matter [movement,] among others.”
“I think the anti-SARS movement isn’t about police reforms alone. It’s about calling out a government that doesn’t work for us,” said Elizabeth Agbedun ’22, a Nigerian American student of Mount Holyoke. “This needs to end.”