SARS BRUTALITY- 3 men share their experiences

Welcome to Limitless! 

This week has been rough as memories of experiences some of us have had with men from the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) keeps coming, forcing us to start protests and trend hashtags.  

SARS officers profile youths based on appearance. They harass people who have piercings, dreadlocks, tattoos, or who are using expensive gadgets and cars. They conduct stop and search by the road, even barge into apartments of youths to search without search warrants. These officers are meant to protect us from robbery or concentrate on the robbers. Instead, we see these men killing and being cruel to Nigerian youths for reasons that don’t even sum up. They have been accused of murder, theft, unlawful arrests, unlawful detention, extortion, rape and humiliation. 

If you’ve never had a personal experience with SARS, I’m sure you know someone who has. In previous years, the Inspector General of Police had approved the disbandment or reform of this unit. All to no avail, we’ve seen no change. This is why Nigerian youths and everyone that has heard or had an experience with them are protesting and trending the hashtags #EndSars #EndPoliceBrutality.  

Protests should be seen as an opportunity for dialogue between the citizens and the leaders. Besides, Nigerians have the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly. This is why I see no reason the police force should be using teargas or shooting people during protests. We saw a police officer threatening and cocking a gun at a protester the other day. We even saw a guy that was shot in the leg. These among many other unfortunate experiences. For how long will the police force keep instilling fear in citizens instead of making them feel safe? 

3 men share their experiences with SARS. 

1. 2019, Ota

“I took bike from Oju ore to Tollgate, immediately I alighted, one guy in uniform told me to follow him. He was with a gun and made me cross to the other side and enter the bus. One of them told me to bring my bag, wallet and phone. He and his men told me to unlock my phone, scrolled through my pictures and social media. Then, he opened my WhatsApp, opened my chats with my ex and asked ‘who be this’, then, he saw a picture of her hand and said ‘you be cultist abi, why you get hand picture for phone’. 

They asked what school I attended, I had to beg them to give me my phone to show them proof. They were driving while all this was going on, so, you can imagine my fear. They stopped after 30 minutes and told me to come down. The officers took 2,000 naira from my wallet and told me to keep the remaining 1,000naira. Finally, they gave me my phone and drove off.” 

2. 2020, Lagos. 

“I was in an Uber, all of a sudden, SARS officers stopped us and said they were doing ‘stop and search’. Meanwhile, they didn’t stop the cars that were ahead of us. They told me to come down, searched my pocket, asked for my name and where I hail from. Then, they told me to bring out my phone, that I can look like a good guy but I’m a bad person. 

I gave them the phone while they searched everything- my pictures, Instagram, Twitter and WhatsApp. They asked me if I had money, I said ‘Me, I don’t have money o’. So, they didn’t bother checking my bank app. They searched my girlfriend’s phone too and they let us go when they didn’t find anything. It’s annoying the way they just stop and harrass people when you aren’t guilty of any crime.”

3. Ota, 2019

“My guys and I were going home from school, and there is a checkpoint close to my school. One person they stopped from a tricycle (Keke Maruwa) was trying to run, the SARS officers just threw a large stick on his back. They told us to come down and show them our Identification cards one by one. 

The guy was even like ‘you know I can break this ID card and it won’t matter anymore’. We just agreed because he was armed. They always try to let you know you don’t have a say or right. One of my friends said they carried he and his sister to one bush just to let them know they can kill and dump them there and nothing will happen.” 

I really hope these protests and cries of the youths are heard by the government. Enough is enough. SARS and Police brutality has to stop. Don’t forget to wear your masks and take a bottle of water with you if you are going for protests. Wear comfortable clothing too. Stay safe and protest peacefully. May these protests pay eventually.🙏

You can drop your own experiences below if you’ve had any. Thanks for reading. Don’t forget to check back next Saturday for another update. Bye!💖