Police Brutality In Nigeria

If you have been indifferent before now, let me give you a reason to join your voice in asking the government to #ENDSARSNOW

Before I moved to Lagos, I had heard a lot about men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), though I never had any encounter with them. The tales of their highhandedness and unprofessional conduct on and off duty were disturbing, but since I had never been a direct victim before, all I always did was sympathise with those at the receiving end of these officers’ onslaught from afar.

However, this mindset changed when I started hearing stories of females being raped by the same people who ought to protect them; Innocent people losing their lives, but no one is being charged for such crimes. All we got were headlines, more deaths, and no remorse.

The first time I had an encounter with these daredevils (SARS), I was charging my phone in front of my street when I sighted them disembarking from their bus. It took an explanation from someone for me to know that it was not a daylight robbery that was about to happen.

These SARS officers were all dressed in black and wore ruthless frowns on their faces. Even though they knew their main targets, everyone was a victim to them. They stopped cabs, pulled out guys both dressed like their targets and those who looked different. Some got a slap or two, while a few were lucky to be interrogated after showing their ID cards.

Of course, I was looking at them from a healthy distance, but it did not reduce how terrified I was at that moment, even though I was not their victim. I know too many people who had been victims of these armed monsters, but thankfully lived to tell their stories, even though they lost their money, dignity, and sanity in the process.

After being threatened with their famous line “I will waste you and nothing will happen,” most of their victims were not lucky enough to live to tell the tales. I am sure you must have heard one or two such stories. If you conduct a simple search on Google, you will cringe at the search results.

When you talk to those who have had first-hand experiences with SARS operatives, you’d realise how troubling their experiences were. Most of these victims never fully recover from the torture-induced trauma they went through. In fact, I know someone who developed a phobia for leaving his house after his encounter.

The brave ones who go about their business every day have to take different measures to be safe. Many hide their apps or simply do not go out with their ATM cards. Other people resort to buying gadgets with the global positioning system (GPS) software, which when activated, shows one’s location, even when one goes missing.

Victims who are taken to an ATM to bail themselves out are either killed for having empty accounts. If they are lucky to stay alive, they return home with an empty bank account. Every penny these innocent and hardworking young people have worked hard to earn is usually wiped out in seconds.

In the past, we used to say SARS went after bad guys, thieves, and fraudsters. Then they moved to people with dreadlocks, tattoos, mohawk, and other stereotypical physical identifiers or anything that made you a stereotypical bad guy. It graduated to accessories and gadgets; earrings, iPhones, AirPods, laptop bags, face caps, and expensive clothes. Finally, it is now any human unlucky enough to encounter them.

Everyone is now a target, but if this truth does not scare you, I don’t know what will!