Police Opens Fire at Protestors in Nigeria
In Nigeria, citizens have taken to the streets demanding the dissolution of the SARS for the alleged brutality and abuse of power.
SARS (Special Anti-Robbery Squad) is a unit of the Nigerian police force. It was established in 1992 to tackle robbery, kidnappings, and other violent crimes. But it has been widely criticized for human rights abuses, torture, extortion, and extrajudicial killings. Nigerians claim plainclothes police officers frequently target young men with tattoos, dreadlocks, and expensive cars arbitrarily and torture them. The demonstrations began on 8th October to end SARS after a video went viral on social media that showed SARS officers shooting a man in Nigeria’s Delta State. Demonstrators have taken part in daily protests across the country for nearly two weeks now. Lagos is a city in Nigeria. Lagos officials imposed a 24-hour curfew in Lagos to bring the protests to an end. On 20th October after 12 days of protests, Nigerian police opened fire on protesters in Lagos city. 2 people were shot.
Videos were shown on Nigeria's Channels Television captured audio of live rounds being fired at the scene. The Nigerian Army tweeted images of news reports about the shootings with the words "fake news" written on them in red letters. Amnesty International, the human rights organization, said that there is evidence that security forces in Lagos have fatally shot protesters. The protests have caught the world's attention after celebrities, including Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, actor John Boyega and footballer Marcus Rashford, singer Beyonce & Rihanna condemned brutality and supported the protestors. The police announced that SARS would be dissolved and a new Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team would be made. The government has called on the protesters to leave the streets, arguing that it has now met their demands. But the new unit has been dismissed by protesters, who say the government has failed to deliver on its promises in the past.
