A police force in Nigeria shot at hundreds of innocent protestors on October 20th, leaving innocent lives either injured or dead.
25 people were injured and two people were killed on October 20th from the massacre. The protest was peaceful, and all of the protesters were unarmed.
The SARS started shooting the innocent protestors around 7 pm. There was a curfew set in Nigeria, but the curfew was pushed back until 9 pm. The police officers showed up to the protests to help “control” them.
The Special Anti-Robbery Squad, also known as SARS, is a police force in Nigeria that is known for being corrupt and brutal. Tens of thousands of people in Nigeria have been protesting for weeks for the government to disarm the group.
SARS was created in 1984 as a result of an epidemic of crimes, robberies, carjackings, and kidnappings. However, in most recent years, the group is now being accused of being the exact problem that it was created to stop.
Amnesty International has reported that there were at least 82 documented cases of torture and ill-treatment between January 2017 and May 2020. The victims were mostly men between the age of 18-25, that are from low-income families. The failure of response from the Nigerian government, amnesty said, showed “an absolute disregard for international human rights laws and standards.”
The protests in Nigeria have been happening for weeks, but now they are starting to get recent media attention. The hashtag, #endsars, was trending on Twitter and Instagram, which provided a lot of awareness to the crisis.
Videos and pictures of the aftermath of the shooting on October 20th, are being shared on social media and are becoming viral. People from across the world are now starting to understand what has been happening in Nigeria, and what a violation of human rights it is.
The Nigerian government has not disarmed the group yet, even though protests are fueling. Hopefully, the Nigerian government will have a response soon before more innocent lives are taken.