“if man is not to resort to rebellion, man’s right is to be respected”. –
United Nation declaration of Human Right
#EndSars movement is a protest that triggers a spontaneous agitation for an end to police brutality and abuse. This was embarked on by a ‘leaderless’ collective of young Nigerians within and outside the country. It became a mantra that rallied a broad segment of the Nigerian society, transcending religious, ethnic, social and gender divide. It morphed into a platform for venting long-bottled up ill-feelings of all that is gone wrong with the Nigerian state.
All effort to detract and dampen the resolve of this protesters never fall through, until a detachment of uniformed armed men suspected to be the Nigerian army started opening fire at closed range on the protesters on Tuesday 20th of October.
These drew a widespread condemnation across the world. This is not surprising as the president has once stated at the opening ceremony of the 2018 NBA-AG Conference that human right must take second place when it comes to national security and public interest. But the question is who defines public interest? The people or the state?
In the spate of these events we want to therefore recommend that government must remain sacrosanct both within her policing and governance architecture for peace transpire. Human rights must be protected. The government needs to be more tactical, open and proactive to meeting the needs of the movement. All defaulting officers must also be tried and brought to justice. It’s time to know that it’s no longer business as usual.