The True Events That Led To The Lekki Massacre of the #ENDSARS protesters In Lagos
This is just a reminder that I do not write for the entire Nigerian youth but as a Nigerian youth who actively participated both offline and online in the END SARS protests from the 8th of October, 2020 till date.
I have struggled with my mental health for days now and have cried every day since the 20th of October, 2020. I however need to tell this story so that it is properly recorded in history and so that generations unborn remember the gallant youth who gave their lives just because we dared to go against the Nigerian government - it is my duty as a writer to document as events such as these unfold - so, holding on to the rest of sanity I have left, I will tell my piece.
As earlier explained in my previous article here on Linkedin: The Truth About The End Sars/End Swat Protest, I wrote very briefly on the resistance our protest met with the Federal government - I never imagined that those short lines of mine will grow into a full fledged article as you are now reading.
After about 4 days of intensified peaceful protests by the Nigerian youth, the Nigerian government met our peaceful protests with hot water sprays, live rounds fired by officers killing a total of 14 fellow protesters and injuring many others so far, tear gas, government sponsored attacks by thugs et al was the order of the day.
Our funding channels to ensure our protesters on the field were and are still well taken care of have also been blocked making the Nigerian youths opt for Bitcoin funding to sustain the protests. - Omolola Odunowo, The Truth About The End Sars/End Swat Protest (LinkedIn)
On the 8th of October, when most youths decided to hit the streets and demand for the removal of SARS and the reformation of the Nigerian police with the aim of putting an end to police brutality around the country, we never thought our demands will be treated by the Nigerian government as a protest seeking to usurp the current governance of the Buhari Administration.
Our protest which till date has remained peaceful has always been clear with our 5 for 5 point demand which has been open and accepted by the government however, as we were on the process, Nigerian youths were met with the same brutality we were speaking against from the Nigerian police force.
Abuja protesters had to endure hot water canons being sprayed at them, machettes and sharp objects used to inflict harm by state sponsored PRO-SARS protesters and such and such. These wonderful protesters stood firm in the midst of all this and replied brutality and murder with peace and love.
The Lagos mainland protesters endured live rounds of bullets which killed a bystander amongst several others, armed state sponsored thugs determined to inflict injuries and scare us off, police arrests and tortures that if not for our pro-bono lawyers may have led to a lot of silent deaths. At this point, you begin to wonder if what the youth are asking for is too much and why the government keeps coming at us with the same brutality we are protesting against.
The painful part about this protest was that the government usually came on local media to state the exact opposite of what protesters on ground were facing everyday across states in Nigeria as the youth protests kept spreading and growing.
The brutality and cover-ups were endless and we often times felt helpless but we also knew we had an edge over the government - Technology which we exploited with full charge. With technology, we knew we would always be one step ahead of the govt and this was always our secret weapon.
THE PROTEST STRUCTURE
Our leaderless protest which actually had a lot of organisation and structure held the protests using these three key groups;
- The offline/field protesters: these people were usually on the protests grounds, marching, barricading roads etc. Offline protesters were to bring awareness to the issues and in a way ensure transparency during dialogues with government officials during their addresses.
Our large numbers were also used as a unifying force to stand against state or federal government sponsored thugs. These protesters usually had more personal experiences with SARS and so came out to express their frustrations and anger at the entire policing system.
2. The online protesters: these were individuals who could not be physically present at protests due to work related issues or being underage to participate. They consisted majorly of individuals from ages 17 to 40. They worked as a unit to bring international attention to our plight since our National media refused to shed light on protests. The online protesters aimed to bring "international disgrace" to Nigeria through our voices which we hoped would force the government into giving our demands quickly.
The online protesters also diffused fake news and ensured that the international media had enough visual evidence of police brutality. The protesters also worked as a unit to escalate issues which arose during protesters. Their duty was to escalate locations in need of help so that funds could go towards getting the protestants out of harms way or getting the protestants free from the police cell as well as treating injuries sustained if any.
The major key phrases used to motivate online protesters was and is still "apply pressure" and "don't lose focus" with hashtags like #ENDSARSNOW #ENDSARSIMMEDIATELY #ENDSWAT #ENDSARS #SARSMUSTEND being the leading hashtags.
Also, to ensure people could access the internet, well meaning Nigerians who believed in the cause actually topped up mobile phones with data. The major point of convergence was and still remains Twitter.
3. The crowdfunding protesters: these were people who believed in the good in the protests and decided to help out financially. They were the backbone of the entire protest and were the reasons why the protest was able to last as long as it did.
THE KEY LOCATIONS FOR LAGOS END SARS PROTESTS
Before we began having protests around several corridors of the Lagos metropolis, the protests were essentially started at three strategic locations which aimed to press nerve centers of the Lagos economy into calling for faster response on our 5 for 5 demands. These locations are;
- The Lagos State National House Of Assembly, Alausa
- Lekki Toll Gate
- The Muritala Mohammed Airport, Ikeja
Now of all these three locations listed above, two of the locations (Alausa and Ikeja locations) met with a varied resistance from the government - however, the Lekki Toll Gate protests was the most peaceful. They usually just manned their space in peace for the past 2 weeks without any disturbance from the government.
Thanks to them, Lagos successfully lost N234million during the time they were barricading that corridor. However, few minutes past 7 on the the 20th of October, 2020 changed everything. It went from a place manned in peace to a place that witnessed the massacre of scores of peaceful protesters by the Nigerian government.
I am crying as I type this because I protested offline occasionally at the Alausa protest ground and I know what it means to make friends in fellow Nigerian youths, most of who shuffled between Alausa and Lekki protest grounds for the cause and in one night watch as scores of these gallant youths got killed by the people who were supposed to protect them. I am really heartbroken, it is not easy writing this piece to be honest but I will keep trying my best.
The above was the last picture they all took together a few hours before the massacre. Wow, these many youth stood their ground for a better Nigeria and Nigeria could not protect them - I weep for the nation.
THE 4pm LAGOS STATE CURFEW THAT STARTED IT ALL
I got wind that our Lagos state Governor had called for a state curfew for 4pm at around early afternoon or so which was funny because it seemed very unrealistic. For one, it was especially difficult to reach protest grounds that day because of touts who had mounted several road blocks on the street, making Lagos activities come to a halt and as a result of this unbearable traffic had struck keeping cars stranded on the streets.
Anyways, as I monitored happenings via twitter, we began to reach out to our protesters on ground to leave their several protest venues due to the curfew but they maintained that they would defy the curfew. Most of the youth did not think too much of it because to be honest, we felt that what was the worst punishment for defying a curfew in Nigeria - we expected arrests or tear gas etc to disperse the crowd which is what we felt the democratic nation of Nigeria would do.
Soon, our protesters on ground at Alausa, sent in videos of armoured tanks entering the state as well as soldiers littered around the protest centers on the mainland which was wierd so I as well as other online protesters continued begging the Lagos field protesters to leave but they maintained that they were going to defy the curfew.
We felt we had done our bit to be honest because we cannot tell grown up adults what to do and what not to do besides everyone had a right and a leader to make their decisions. So, we chose to support their decision since they were our frontline soldiers in this fight. But things stopped looking right when some men came to disconnect the CCTV camera's at the tollgate at around 4pm that evening.
At around 6pm or so, the lights at the Lekki toll were turned off and in what has since been described by eye witnesses as a massacre, the Nigerian soldiers moved in on the Lekki protesters around a few minutes to 7pm when the curfew whereas new reports should that the curfew had been shifted to 9pm. Without warning, these soldiers started shooting live rounds straight at the protesters killing and injuring scores if not more...