Youth and the #EndSARS Protests

The #EndSARS protests have shown us that in Nigeria—a country where security operatives cock their guns at your face and boldly say ‘I go waste you and nothing go happen,’—anything goes.

Written by Zainab Onuh-Yahaya

Feb 15, 2021

Young Nigerians in large numbers protest to an end to police brutality in Nigeria, October 2020. EISEKE BOLAJI / UNSPLASH

When Damilola did not come home from work, his family thought he was spending the night at his friend’s house, close to the restaurant in Lagos Island, where he was a waiter. But Damilola was not at his friend’s house. Damilola, 20, had left work at around 8 p.m. and, shortly after, was picked up in Yaba by men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).

‘They said I was a cultist because I had an afro,’ Damilola said. ‘I told them I wasn’t a cultist and I was on my way back from work. They insisted on knowing where I was coming from, where I was going and what I did for a living,’ he continued, ‘They told me I had to pay if I wanted them to let me go. I told them I was working because I was saving up money to go to university and I didn’t have any money to pay.’

This statement earned Damilola a slap. He was immediately pushed into a van and driven to the station where he stayed for six months. He was never charged to court or granted access to his family or lawyer during this time. Eventually, Damilola’s father sold a piece of land he had inherited from his own father, to fund Damilola’s release.

In 2019, as part of its mandate under the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, the Administration of Criminal Justice Monitoring Committee, along with magistrates of the Federal Capital Territory, went on an inspection tour of local police detention facilities. According to a monitoring committee supervisor I spoke to, ‘the cells were packed full. There were about 300-500 persons in one single cell. The place was horrid and unfit for even animals. It was before the coronavirus, but we had to wear face masks and shields, and even that was not enough to shield us from the stench and filth of the place.’

In Nigeria, over 70 per cent of detainees await trail. This is despite Nigeria’s laws that require suspects to be arraigned within 24 hours of their arrest. Unsurprisingly, the committee’s visit revealed that authorities have been violating this right. Police detention facilities remain overcrowded with pre-trial detainees who are kept in custody for a period ranging from one week to two years.

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About the Author

Zainab Onuh-Yahaya

is an essayist based in Nigeria. Her work has featured in Minority Africa, African Arguments, the JFA Human Rights Journal and others.

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Youth and the #EndSARS Protests