The Fight to End Police Brutality in Nigeria #EndSARS

In response to the harassment, profiling, extortion, unlawful arrest, torture, sexual assault and murder of youths perpetuated over the years by a police task force — SARS (Special Anti-Robbery Squad) — established to protect Nigerians from armed robbery, Nigerian youths — my brave sisters and brothers — have risen up to fight this menace and demand justice from our government.

We’re currently carrying out an indefinite protest in all parts of the country to demand for a disbandment of the task force, total reform of the Nigerian police system and justice and compensation for victims of the assault and killings perpetuated by SARS.

It’s been beautiful, humbling and extremely painful — as people recount their stories and the loss of lives we’ve sustained during the protest —to watch and be a part of. The solidarity, determination and love has bridged all ethnic, religious and class divides and unified us in a way we never imagined possible.

A website to document the painful encounters some of us have had with this rogue force was created so their atrocities are never forgotten. All the stories are hard to read and comprehend but this is our reality in Nigeria and has been for a very long time but enough is enough.

Protest sustenance initiatives have been deployed by Nigerian youths through crowdfunding. The monies have been used to feed protesters, print banners and placards, buy protective gear, provide electricity, pay hospital fees (for injured protesters) and finance legal aid (for arrested protesters) amongst others.

International media houses like CNN, BBC and Al Jazeera have covered and are still covering the protests as things unfold.

Now, we’re calling on the rest of world to join us in the fight against police brutality in our country. Your contribution in form of raising awareness on social media to donating to sustain the protests will go a long way.

Here’s how to help:

– You can donate to help sustain the protests by donating to our official crowdfund. Please visit this link to donate.

– You can follow and trend these hashtags on Twitter and Instagram to get real-time updates from protesters on the frontlines and spread awareness in your country – #EndSARS #EndSWAT #SARSMustEnd #EndPoliceBrutalityinNigeria

– You can also send emails to the International Criminal Court and United Nations Human Rights Committee to persuade them to intervene. We created a Google doc here that contains email templates and links to evidence of the human rights abuses we’re fighting against which you can use.

Thank you so much as you join us in our fight for a better Nigeria.