The past few days have been characterized by massive protests both online and offline. The major goal—a clamor for the immediate disbandment of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).
Social media went agog with various disturbing videos of SARS officers molesting and brutalizing innocent youths. Many hashtags such as #EndSars #EndPoliceBrutality #EndSarsImmediately among others trended.
While the local news media outlet for some reason failed to report the events of the protest, it didn’t stop the movement from gaining worldwide attention. The power of social media indeed.
As Wizkid pointed out yesterday during his protest in London, this movement has shown that the youth, and by extension, masses in general have the power to demand good governance. Just yesterday, the Inspector General of Police, M.A Adamu officially disbanded the SARS. However, it wasn’t the first time such a proclamation had been made.
This made the #Executive Order trend last night on Twitter. While SARS technically has been disbanded, the masses know it is just a move to end the protest; rather than a ban in principle, they want the President to officially make a statement announcing the ban himself. And at the moment, President Muhammadu Buhari is yet to make any announcement whatsoever. This is why the protest has continued.
Here are some ways you could join in the struggle to ensure the objective of the movement is achieved:
- Join in the protest physically: Youths across the country are pushing for the disbandment of SARS. From Lagos, Delta, Oyo, Ogun to Abuja, the motives are the same. Each has a take-off point to converge with the aim of peacefully protesting. In Lagos for instance, youths have gathered at Unilag and Lekki Tollgate to continue the agitation for the immediate end of SARS not just in principle but in actuality.
- Participate in the Struggle Online: It is understandable that people get scared to go out to join protests owing to the fact that some get killed, maimed, and injured in the process. Many have died in the struggle for a good course and their sacrifices should not be thrown down the drain. Thus if you feel this way, you can aggressively make posts about ending SARS, retweeting, and sharing SARS-related content across your social media platform so as to ensure it gets the requisite traction it needs to attract attention from the global community.
- Make Donations: You can also make donations to facilitate the cause. The protesters across the country will need supplies to carry on the struggle. Hence, it is for this reason that some individuals and bodies have put in place an avenue through which donations can be received i.e Flutterwave, The Feminist Coalition, Gatefield Impact.
The Nigerian youths have awoken, they have realized that they have the power and voice to demand the change they want and they will stop at nothing to ensure they get that change and most importantly get justice for all the innocent souls lost to the hands of trigger happy law enforcement agents whose primary mandate is to protect lives!
InlandTown! 2020
