Nigeria’s #ENDSARS Campaign is About More Than One Police Unit

On Oct. 20, thousands of peaceful protesters gathered at the Lekki toll gate in Lagos, Nigeria. Nigerian citizens had been demonstrating for nearly two weeks, advocating for an end to the country’s infamous Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and broader police reform. But the demonstrators at the toll gate were in violation of a 24-hour curfew imposed by Lagos Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu—and as soldiers approached, they opened fire, killing at least 38 people. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, said, “Reports that CCTV cameras and lighting were deliberately disabled prior to the shooting are even more disturbing as, if confirmed, they suggest this deplorable attack on peaceful protestors was premeditated, planned and coordinated.” This alleged massacre and its aftermath are just the latest developments in a societal reckoning decades in the making.

Despite smooth transitions of power and democratic rule in Nigeria for the past several decades, the country is on the brink of a major setback. The legacy of military dictatorship of the 1980s and 1990s, the Biafra civil war, rule by northern Nigerian elites, and large economic disparities have created a tinderbox.

For the past several weeks, young Nigerians—using social media and a determination to respond to systemic institutionalized injustices, police brutality and pervasive corruption—have sought to rally an internal coalition to demand change. The social media campaign—centered on the hashtag #ENDSARS—originally sought to mobilize support for abolishing the police unit, whose officers have been accused of extrajudicial killing, robberies and attacks going back several years. But the call for reform has crescendoed into a broader movement throughout the month.

On Oct. 11, the Nigerian police force announced it would dismantle SARS in a seemingly quick response to the mass protests. However, in recent years, the government has made many similar public statements to pacify the public after alleged extrajudicial overreach—and it is improbable that the announcement will halt the protests. Young and internet-savvy Nigerians and members of the Nigerian diaspora around the world, including in Washington, D.C., and London, are coordinating with one another and staging regular protests and sit-ins. This protest effort seems likely to continue for the foreseeable future.

SARS was established in 1992 as a police unit seeking to fight violent crime in Nigeria, including kidnapping and robberies. The unit’s operational style includes a mixture of uniformed police officers and many in plainclothes. The plainclothes officers were known for forcibly demanding cash from civilians, brandishing weapons, and engaging in indiscriminate searches and detentions.

The public quickly began to view the federal police unit as overstepping its mandate. Since 2017, Nigerians have been advocating for the abolition of the unit, pointing to alleged abuse, executions, hangings, beatings, sexual assaults and even waterboarding. Several western and African nongovernmental organizations, including Amnesty International, have documented more than 80 cases of SARS abuses. And there may be many more abuses that have yet to be documented or accounted for.

Groups like Amnesty International have gained insights from people on the ground in Nigeria, who have described SARS as operating with impunity. This is despite numerous attempts to raise this issue at the local and federal levels—including with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari himself. Several videos showing alleged crimes by the SARS unit have gone viral. The most disturbing videos, shot on Oct. 4, show SARS officers dragging two limp bodies from a hotel compound into the streets before shooting one of them. In the aftermath of these events, the head of Amnesty International in Nigeria stated, “[H]orrific acts of impunity by SARS and similar tactile police units have continued unabated.”

The present protests have gained international visibility because of a combination of an under-35 population leading the movement and a coordinated effort by various activists to mobilize celebrities, influencers and others to speak up. Past protests—like the campaign to rescue girls kidnapped from Chibok by Boko Haram, which was led by Michelle Obama and other international figures—show that movements in Nigeria on behalf of the vulnerable do work. Notable Nigerians and members of the Nigerian diaspora such as novelist Chimamanda Adiche, actor John Boyega and music sensation Burna Boy have commented on the ongoing movement. Burna Boy argued that “the most important moment in Nigeria’s history … is what we are witnessing right now because if nothing changes after this, if this doesn’t work, then it is over.” Even American and Canadian singers and artists such as Beyoncé, Rihanna, Cardi B and Drake have lent their names and reputations to the cause.

The movement is largely youth led—a reflection of Nigeria’s young and rapidly growing population—and has been spearheaded by peaceful and nonviolent sit-ins and public statements by leading Nigerian intellectuals and artists, both in the country and abroad. In some instances, misinformation campaigns have sought to sow discord and provoke violence—coming on the heels of larger foreign misinformation campaigns and efforts in West Africa. Protesters intent on staying on message have largely ignored such campaigns.

The requests and demands of the movement are informed by a mixed approach due to the various groups involved. The demands include prosecuting the officers involved

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