Exactly this day (October 20) in 2020, Nigerians were plunged into mourning following the killing of EndSARS protesters at the Lekki Tollgate in Lagos State allegedly by the Nigerian Army and other security forces.
Insight media recalls that the EndSARS protest was birthed by extra-judicial killings perpetrated by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a Nigeria Police Force unit created in late 1992 to deal with crimes associated with robbery, motor vehicle theft, kidnapping, cattle rustling and firearms.
Some of the SARS operatives, however, allegedly deviated from their legal assignment to unlawfully humiliate, brutalize and kill innocent Nigerian youths, making life relatively miserable for them as some were scared of moving freely on the streets. Most of the time, youths were profiled based on what they wear and the cars they drive.
The development angered and triggered some of the youths to stage a protest in Benin, the Edo State capital following the death of a student who was allegedly killed by an operative of the SARS in late September 2020.
The protest spread across all parts of the country including the big cities – Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt and all other states, affecting the Nigerian economy as several economic activities came to an abrupt halt.
Despite some moves by the then Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, who swiftly disbanded the SARS on October 11, 2020, in a bid to address the grievances, Insight media recalls that the protest continued as the aim metamorphosed into repealing the ‘bad governance’ experienced in the country.
The peaceful demonstration, which subsequently gained the attention of the international communities, was, however, hijacked by hoodlums who severally invaded the protest ground to unleash terror on the youths, leading to the death of many protesters.
Despite warnings and advice from both state and federal governments including security agencies, the angry youths who lamented the level of unemployment, bad management of the educational sector and the general hardship birthed by the alleged bad governance, refused to back down.
According to reports, over two hundred and five police stations and formations, including other critical private and public infrastructure across the country were damaged by hoodlums during the hijacked protest.
Policemen were killed in Lagos, Oyo, Anambra, Benue Abia Ogun and Ebonyi States. Lagos and Oyo States had the highest figure of slain cops, with six each, followed by Anambra State Police command with four, Abia and Ebonyi had two each while Ogun recorded one.
Many correctional facilities were attacked during the protest leading to the freedom of several inmates who subsequently joined the hoodlums to destroy government formations across the country.
