20/10/20 has become a date, which no Nigerian and those interested in Nigerian affairs, will ever forget in a hurry. It was the date that added to the records of ‘ignobility’ of our soldiers, the forked-tongue tendencies of our politicians, especially at Lagos and Abuja, the speed with which the oppressed join the oppressors to scuttle developments that would improved their oppressed-state and the embarrassing docility of the populace. It was also a date that altered for bad, the status of Lekki Toll-Gate 1 and raised Fashola to the status of political detective, with expertise in finding out what was not actually missing.
20/10/22 was the second anniversary of that bloody affair, the shame of a nation that no longer has any shame, was celebrated. EndSARS went beyond the events of 20/10/20, but that date etched itself in our memories and history as an encapsulation of all that EndSARS stood for and how a government should not manage the affairs of its employers (the citizens), especially those who own the future and those who did not run foul of any law.
The EndSARS second memorial celebrations showed that our traducers have learnt nothing and forgotten nothing; that truly, a leopard cannot change its spots and that you cannot teach an old dog a new trick. Some people asked the court to stop the youths from assembling at Lekki but the court refused.
The police threatened fire and brimstone but the youths were not deterred; they came out in their numbers with dummy coffins, and blood-stained flags. The police, who are mostly very effective whenever they encounter peaceful Nigerians, kept their promises by dispersing the innocuous youths with tear-gas, hot water cannons, et al.
This is in Lagos, built by a single individual, and where area-boys have formed alternative governments, extorting, maiming and stealing in the very before of the police or even in alignment with them.
They even arrested at least four ‘protestants (as they did in 2021)’ and a member of Lekki-Class of 2020, Jacob Desmond, as he was granting press interviews on his experiences on that ‘white day,’ 20/10/20. There were even reports of some gun-shots on that memorial anniversary assembly. Journalists were also not spared!
However, the most worrisome aspect of this whole issue is that the so-called SWAT team (and I have not seen them so attired anywhere), is nothing but an old wine in a new bottle
Now, despite the verified fact that people were killed at Lekki by the EndSARS Judicial Panel of Inquiry on General Police Brutality Cases and Lekki Incident Investigation, a glorified area-boy and celebrity agbero, MC Oluomo, who now is an official of the Lagos State government, declared that the Lekki Massacre was a fabrication by political enemies of Tinubu, specifically Atiku, and Obi.
This reminded me of All the subterranean and open efforts made to undermine the Justice Okuwobi Lagos End-Sars panel, including that of a lecturer who spent about 300 percent of his salary on advertisements to castigate the report, as well as the hostility of the government towards the report.
The Amnesty International, which has fallen out of favour with this government for telling the world what was happening in Nigeria ‘as is,’ has declared that at least 40 EndSARS alumni are still in the custody of our policemen for the past two years, in addition to 21 of them who were detained by Abia State Police Command, for 15 months.
These reluctant guests were also served with the usual police banquet of torture, abuse and denial of rights. The National Human Rights Commission has also found 72 police officers guilty of various charges against them, arising from the EndSARS affair.
It was also boldly reported that 54 petitions brought before the panel were withdrawn due to harassment, intimidation, and threats to the victims’ lives by the police. And nothing was done about the intimidation by UPM (Unknown Police Men)!
Furthermore, probably with the exception of Lagos State, no state government has paid compensation to the victims and Nobody has been charged or successfully prosecuted for all these physical, material and mental torture meted out on innocent Nigerians by our ‘gallant’ policemen.
However, the most worrisome aspect of this whole issue is that the so-called SWAT team (and I have not seen them so attired anywhere), is nothing but an old wine in a new bottle.
As we can all attest from experiences or reports, nothing has changed. And when you add this to the acts of impunity of other security officials, you find that we only pretended to kill the snake but left its head intact, with which it has continued to wreak havoc.
We all remember the case of a Corper, Ezeiruaku Ifeyinwa Fidelia, who was dehumanised by a female military officer, Lieutenant Chika Viola for ‘greeting’ a male officer. What happened to the military officer? The minister of police affairs revealed that about 400 complaints were received about our policemen, in just three months (June-August, 2022).
These were just those who bothered or had the guts to complain. The petitions were on extortion, police harassment and intimidation, unlawful seizure of property, disobedience to court orders, denial of access to justice, abuse of office, enforced disappearance, threat to life, unlawful arrest and detention, non-payment of a judgment sum, cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment, and violation of the right to life.
Earlier in October 2022, six policemen, probably on illegal duties, accosted one Oluwagbadura, accused him of being a yahoo boy, assured him of punishment worse than hell in cell and extorted from him N100,000, in broad daylight, after which all his sins were blotted out.
Luckily, a good spirit was abroad and Lagos Police Command arrested the culprits and recovered the money. It even appears that policemen have official support as the spokesperson of the Nigerian Police Force, Olumuyiwa Adejobi once said, “Even if a policeman in uniform slaps a civilian, the civilian has no right to retaliate.” He has eventually clarified the statement, whatever that means!
This is my 8th interventions on EndSARS: A tale of two wars: War against Coro and War against SARS (subtitled: And then from SARS to SWAT… Just like that (16/10/20); EndSARS: No eye had seen and no ear has heard (22/10/21); A nation in turmoil, a president who doesn’t speak and giving the monkey a cup of water (29/10/20); Worrisome developments post EndSARS: An elders proverbial analysis (19/11/20); Igbo-Ukwu Riots and EndSARS effects: The son of man wept; A Taxonomy of looters, rioters and arsonists (ND), EndSARS: We are where we were and Basket of Questions for Gbajabiamila!!! (October 2021).
As concluded in the last outing, it appears that ‘the men in uniform just went on a brief retreat and came back with full force. We, the idle civilians are still at their mercy (that is if there is any mercy) and our youths across the country continue to be the endangered species as they are dehumanised, extorted and denied the right to say ‘we no go greee’. The various briefings and debriefings by the military and police authorities have not yielded much.’
Not much has changed, especially, when we adopt an inclusive definition of EndSARS, which goes beyond police brutality to encompass all that is wrong with Nigeria. Even when we focus just on the police matter, there has not been any strategic and inclusive efforts to bridge the gap between the people and the police authorities.
Unfortunately, as I bemoaned almost two years ago, the further we are from the EndSARS period, the more people forget the essence and lessons from the EndSARS movement. And then, the clincher: ‘As sure as day follows night, EndSARS shall return to ensure the sustainability of its gains. How and when it will be, the son of man cannot tell. (The IgboUkwu Riots and EndSARS Effect: The Son of Man wept; 24/12/20). I am watching and waiting.
