If you have not heard by now, Nigeria is under serious attack.

Civilians, in my country, are being murdered by the policeman who are suppose to be protecting them. Although we have been protesting for nearly 2 weeks now, it would be silly for me to assume that everyone understands the depth-ness of SARS and Nigerian police brutality. In this post, I will be educating you on exactly what SARS is and on the injustice, inequality, and poverty that has haunted Nigeria for the past couple of years. I will also be telling you ways that you can be involved in this movement, even if you are a Nigerian in the diaspora like me.

THE BEGINNING OF SARS

Since October 8, 7 days after Nigerian Independence Day, Nigerian youths have been protesting against SARS and police brutality.

What is SARS (you may ask)? Well SARS is an acronym for “Special Anti-Robbery Squad.” This branch was established in 1992, by the Nigerian police force, with the hopes of stopping arm robbery and kidnaping. Unfortunately, SARS has failed to accomplish this task. Instead of protecting the citizens of Nigeria, they steal from them, beat them, harass them, kill them, and even rape women. They also arrest civilians, without cause, and profile them for having dread locs, piercings, owning a nice phone, laptop, car or for dressing nice. They even go as far as searching through innocent civilians phones. They literally extort and kill people daily.

HOW AND WHY DID THE PROTEST BEGIN

On October 3, 2020 there was a video that went viral of a man who was shot outside of a hotel in Delta State, Nigeria. After SARS shot this man, cold-blooded, they drove off with his white Lexus. On October 8, 2020 Nigerians began to protest.

Now, this wasn’t the first time that SARS had killed one of us. This also wasn’t the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or even 20th time they had done this. The senseless killings by policeman are normal in Nigeria. They literally kill people like they are animals or something. So when I tell you my people are suffering, just believe me. This is not a joke. This is life or death.

ABOUT THE PROTEST

Like I said earlier, Nigerians started protesting on October 8, 2020 and have not stopped since. At the beginning of the protest, SARS, decided to use tear gas and water hose on peaceful protestors. They also destroyed peoples cars and arrested innocent civilians for protesting. Meanwhile, Nigeria is suppose to be a democracy that upholds the freedom of speech. WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO PROTEST, but our government obviously thinks otherwise.

Furthermore, there are innocent people who have died during this protest, and alledgedly, the government has hired “hoodlums” to fight protestors. There are even videos circulating the internet of protestors being brutality beaten by thugs.

BUT wait! What about the police? What are they doing while all of this is happening? NOTHING! THEY ARE DOING ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

Can you imagine? A whole police force is watching innocent protestors being beaten, and they are doing nothing about it. What a shame. My blood boils with anger just thinking about it. This is not a joke. THIS IS LIFE OR DEATH.

UPDATE ON SARS

Our government has tried everything to stop us from protesting. The joke is on them though because, if anyone (including the government) knows Nigerians, then they know that we NEVER give up. They don’t call us resilient for nothing. They don’t call us the Giant of Africa for nothing, you hear me?

Thankfully, because we live in a digital age, the news about this protest spread quickly around the world. #ENDSARS was literally trending on Twitter and Instagram for days. Fortunately for us, we got the attention we wanted, and this forced our government to take action. On October 11, 2020, the IGP (Inspector General of Police) announced that SARS had been disbanded.

Hmmmm…disbanded?? what exactly does that even mean? Well, upon further research, I discovered that disbanded means to dissolve, scatter, and disperse. The IGP are basically displacing SARS officers to another unit…

First of all, we are not asking for the government to move SARS officers to another unit. We are asking for the complete REMOVAL of SARS. WE want police reform and justice for the victims who lost their lives. WE want officers to be held accountable. WE want action, not speeches (Buhari).

Furthermore, SARS has been disbanded 3 other times in the past. They disbanded SARS in 2017, 2018, and 2019. Nigerians do not believe that SARS has been removed. We also do not believe that things have or will change. WE need our government to take action. WE will not stop, by the Grace of God, until justice is served and change is implemented, hence why we are still protesting.

Additionally, this is just the beginning for change in Nigeria. There are so many problems we have not discussed yet. For now, the youth are protesting just to stay alive. We haven’t even talked about the unstable light, the horrible healthcare, the underpaid workers, the kidnapping, the bad roads, boko haram (rolls eyes), and so much more.

I know some of you are reading this and are probably surprised because most Nigerians, in the diaspora, try to showcase Nigeria and Africa, in a positive light. We have been teased about being African our whole lives and there are so many stereotypes that have been formed. Therefore, we try to show the world that Africa is not a disease ridden continent full of unintelligent humans. Nigeria is a beautiful country and we are so blessed, but we have corrupt leaders. It’s our leaders that are the problem. It’s our leaders that have caused us this pain.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Now that you know all this information, lets now talk about what YOU can do to help. The points listed below are specifically for people (whether Nigerian or not) who live in the diaspora. I want you to know that you can play apart in the change we need. Remember, what affects one of us eventually affects all of us. Those with spiritual ears should listen and understand.

1. POST ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Like I said before, I thank God that we live in a digital age.

One of the biggest ways you can help this movement is by tweeting, posting on Instagram, or sharing your thoughts on Facebook. Here are some of the hashtags we are using: #ENDSARS #ENDSWAT #5FOR5 #ENDPOLICEBRUTALITY. It was these hashtags that got us national attention, so please continue to use them. Also, Nigeria and the United States has about a 6 hour difference, so while Nigerians are sleeping, those of us in the diaspora can continue the fight on social media. We have a duty to speak up. We have a duty to use our platforms. DO NOT KEEP SILENT!

BTW, I am currently not on social media and was off before protesting began, but once I get back on, it will be ON and POPPIN baby (you can follow me HERE).

Also, post and re-share any valid things you see about SARS. Tell people at work, school, church etc. You can even blog about it, like I am doing. Just speak up, even if you are not Nigerian. This thing is bigger than the physical. This spirit could end up in your country next. We all have a role to play. Remember, what affects one of us, will eventually affect all of us. Use whatever platform you have to spread this news…PLEASE!

2. PRAY.

Before I am anything, I am a child of God.

The Bible says in Philippines 4:6 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by PRAYER and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

I see too many people trying to take prayer out of the equation. Let me just set the record straight real quick. We can not win this battle without JESUS. He is our strength when we are weak. He is our fortress. We can protest all we want, but if Jesus is not backing us up and we are not actively including him in this protest, we will not win!

Whenever King David went to battle, he ALWAYS asked God what to do. He ALWAYS included God. So please, keep Nigeria in your prayers. Pray for the youth who are out on the streets risking their lives for freedom. Pray that God will remove the wicked Nigerian leaders from office. Pray that the Lord will send outside help from other countries, like the U.S.A, to help us. Pray over the request we are asking our government (see picture below). Pray over these points every chance you get. Additionally, do not forget to pray for our healthcare system (this is extremely personal to me). Pray that God blesses us with well equipped physicians, nurses, respiratory therapist etc. Also pray that the Lord blesses us with 21st century equipment in ALL hospitals around Nigeria.

If you don’t do any of the things I list, please just PRAY! I’ve been praying over Nigeria for years, but for some reason, God chose NOW to answer my prayers. I knew this day would come. God promised this day would come. He is a God who answers prayer. So I’ll say it again, if you don’t do anything on this list, please just PRAY!

3. DONATE

There are organizations accepting donations to help with medical care and food, but I still have to do more research to assure that these are trusted websites. I’ll update this section of the blog when I find organizations that I like. If you know any valid sites, please list them in the comment section below.

UPDATE: 1) Blessed Afrique Boutique is currently selling t-shirts centered around the protest in Nigeria. 100% of the proceeds made from these shirts will go directly to an NGO organization in Nigeria. 2)Feminist Coalition is another organization taking donations. According to their website, they are a group of young Nigerian feminists with a mission to champion equality for women in Nigeria with a core focus on education, financial freedom, and representation in public office.

LAST WORDS

Things in Nigeria are not getting better. People are still dying and our governors have even started implementing curfews. This is just another way to shut us up, but we will not budge! We still have so much to do and accomplish. It’s been hard waking up every morning knowing that my people our fighting for their lives, but I know Nigeria will be ONE again. We will be GREAT again. We are blessed. We are anointed. We are favored, and we have the backing of Heaven. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this post. I hope you join Nigeria in this movement for change. Have a blessed day! #Sorosoke