A Nation Divided ProSARS vs. EndSARS: A North/South Divide

For a long time now, the interaction between the North and the South in Nigeria has been one void of empathy and mutual understanding.

In October 2020, Lagos youths took to the streets in protest against police brutality with a simple demand: the dissolution of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). For years, the SARS unit has perpetuated harm against the average Nigerian youth. As a result, the protests quickly gained traction across social media, southern Nigeria, and spread to many parts of the world. In northern Nigeria however, the protests did not seem to gain as much traction with only three northern states—Kano, Kaduna, and Plateau—taking part in the protests.

On 10 October, the Arewa Youth Consultative Council, a group aimed at unifying the people of northern Nigeria (colloquially referred to as Arewa), wrote an open letter to President Buhari affirming their support for SARS. In the letter, the council labelled the demand for the dissolution of SARS as unpatriotic, reckless, and callous. They stated that SARS had been instrumental in tackling insecurity in the North and, instead, called for a structural reform of SARS. Shortly after, in other northern states like Borno, Jigawa, and Zamfara, ProSARS protests began to spring up and northern youths took to the street to express their support for the rogue police unit. On 15 October, 19 northern governors gathered for an emergency meeting and spoke against the #EndSARS protests happening in the South. They expressed that SARS had been an immense help in curbing insecurity in northern Nigeria and dissolving SARS would offer insurgents in the North more leeway to wreak havoc in the region.