I end with all my sincerity in saying that I am grieved, and my sympathy goes out to all victims of these killings, everywhere
Even as Nigeria and Nigerians are being squeezed to a painful, economic, emotional but preventable death in this post- lockdown climate comes this current trauma of protests and killings of more innocents.
Yet this EndSARS protest, and now shooting of protesters should not have happened in the first place, if only the authorities had given heed to the warnings of the relevant UN agencies on extrajudicial killings; or listened to well-meaning public analysts asking for something to be done about state agency brutality, and killings.
Agnes Callamard, the UN Special Rapporteur for Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions released a report of her fact-finding mission to Nigeria on September 2, 2019. The opening line of the overview of that report was an unambiguous, unequivocal statement – ‘The OVERALL situation that I encountered in Nigeria gives rise to EXTREME CONCERN.’
Going on, she said, “By many measures, the federal authorities are presiding over an injustice – pressure cooker. The warning signs are flashing bright red.”
Now, one clear year later, after every possible warning sign had been ignored including repeated, increasingly brazen extrajudicial killings of innocent Nigerians by government security agencies, the lid of the simmering pressure cooker has flown off.
The explosion that erupted on 8 October 2020 has produced statewide, street-wide demonstrations under the hashtag #EndSARS.
Still, those demands to end police brutality were being met with more brutality as unarmed protesters lost their lives at the hands of shooting officers. How could anyone have imagined the killing of peaceful protesters at Lekki, Lagos on Tuesday 20 October 2020?
The story coming out of it is even more sickening.
In an allegedly orchestrated and coordinated action, the lights at the expansive Lekki toll gate were turned off.
Before that, the CCTV cameras there were allegedly removed. After that, soldiers reportedly carried out a shoot-to-kill operation. A presidential broadcast 48 hours after the incident has offered scant comfort, with thinly veiled threats to supporters and worse, no mention of the Lekki shootings.
Incidentally that same morning, representatives of the American Secretary of State in their scheduled meeting with Vice President Osinbajo were specific in condemning the Lekki carnage. And I urge them to further obtain lists of officers being charged for human rights violations and extend visa bans and other sanctions on them, lest they attempt to flee from the law (the Lagos State Government has just issued a comprehensive list of officers facing charges ranging from murder to involuntary manslaughter, and that list could then be flagged).
There are some other things to note. On the same Black Tuesday, bandits invaded Tungar Kwana, Talata Marafa Local government area of Zamfara and killed 20. Soldiers are yet to be deployed there till now to protect the rest of the villagers.
The Zamfara killings also went unmentioned in the Thursday Presidential broadcast.
A previous presidential statement had asked Nigerians to be patient as police reforms ‘gather pace,’ but the statement gave neither specifics nor timelines.
Also, the Federal Executive Council met on Wednesday 21, the day after the Lekki shooting and said nothing whatsoever about it. Yet the same Wednesday over in England, the UK Parliament deliberated on the killing of EndSARS protesters in Lagos, Nigeria.
Looking again at the UN rapporteur’s report it says with dead accuracy, “Countrywide patterns include police and military excessive use of lethal force in violation of applicable international standards. The report further highlights the militarisation of policing.
Gripping lines read: “However, the absence of accountability functionality is on such a scale that pretending this is anything short of a crisis is a major mistake. Nigeria must stop extrajudicial killings. The conclusion?
“The collective punishment of civilians is a tragedy for Nigeria.”
What is of greater tragedy today, I would add, is that no promise of a full-scale investigation has been made at the federal level into this horrific incident.
In any case, why would any head of government of a UN member nation be so dismissive of agents, and agencies of the global body? We certainly would not have been where we are now if those earlier warnings had been taken. I myself re-echoed them repeatedly, to no avail.
Concerning the presidential broadcast, it is the Rule of Law, the bedrock of our collective existence that should be stridently emphasised as non-negotiable; and not the worn-out narrative of Nigeria’s continued existence as non-negotiable.
Under the Rule of Law, no one has the right to tamper with an innocent person’s Right to Life. Certainly, there is no law known to Nigeria where the punishment for breaking a curfew is summary execution by shooting.
And the Lagos curfew, initially set at 4 pm was the same day extended till 9 pm, bearing in mind the short notice given.
At any rate, if any head of government blatantly ignores dire warnings of UN representatives, there is no moral justification for him or her to also deliver addresses at the same UN General Assembly, and expect to be taken seriously.
This excessive use of lethal force on innocent citizens must end now, and must also be prevented from reoccurring. It must be admitted that looters and arsonists are taking advantage of the unrest to carry out their own destruction.
These are outcomes of the same torpid response to situations because it took the hoodlums at least 10 days to commence operation.
In the ensuing time, the only official response to the protest was a name change in the police force from SARS to SWAT – a unit that already exists anyway. After this arson began, there was a terse statement asking Nigerians to be patient as police reforms kicked in.
The said reforms have neither been articulated nor have any urgency in implementation been seen or felt, even as I write. To underscore this, on the same Thursday (presidential broadcast) evening, mayhem broke out in Akwa Ibom after it was alleged that security operatives killed an unarmed protester in the state capital.
And so the protest is continuing. A good place to start work would be having an inquest carried out by a collection of independent stakeholders; and not this perceived cosmetic change-of-name.
I end with all my sincerity in saying that I am grieved, and my sympathy goes out to all victims of these killings, everywhere. People are still missing; people are still being killed!
Be consoled by the fact that there are people who are still speaking and acting. I am one of them.
