#EndSARS: Why Three Women Defied Governor Wike’s Protest Ban

Oct 23, 2020

@dejiayoola_xi / TWITTER

On the evening of 12 October 2020, a series of tweets from the governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike’s account, drew a hail of abuses and condemnation from Twitter users. They were angry at his decision to ban protests against police brutality in his state.

Wike’s announcement came one day before an #EndSARS protest was scheduled to hold in the state’s capital, Port Harcourt, as part of the multi-city demonstrations happening around Nigeria. The governor’s message alluded to President Muhammadu Buhari’s recent dissolution of the notorious Special Anti-Robbery Squad, popularly known as SARS, a move the president affirmed in a speech only hours before. Regardless, the following morning, a handful of youths convened at Pleasure Park, the designated meeting point in the city centre, where police officers were already stationed in anticipation of their arrival. Following conversations with the police, demonstrators began their march, amassing a following as they proceeded towards the governor’s official residence.

Neither police presence nor vehicular barricades mounted on the road leading to Government House seemed to faze the protesters, most of whom were in their twenties and thirties. For several hours, they sang protest songs and jeered at the governor for his attempt to ban the protest. They hoisted signs, in addition, that read: ‘We’re tired of being oppressed,’ ‘Stop police brutality’ and ‘Dreadlocks isn’t a crime.’

Kimora Omotosho, a university student at the #EndSARS protest in Port Harcourt, said her friend’s mother did not allow him to leave the house to join the protest until he threatened to kill himself. She added later that her own mother did not know she was in attendance. ‘I feel my mum wouldn’t understand, that she might say “This isn’t your fight”,’ Omotosho said, admitting she had not had any run-ins with SARS herself. ‘But everyone here is a brother and sister, and as a citizen, I stand for everyone who’s been harassed.’

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About the Author

Shayera Dark

is a writer whose work has appeared in various publications such as Quartz, Aljazeera, African Arguments, LitHub and CNN.

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#EndSARS: Why Three Women Defied Governor Wike’s Protest Ban

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