By Aanu Oluyide
The End SARS movement is all political naivety, it is unreal.
SARS operatives are going to be redeployed into other units, it’s simply a reshuffling. A complete one. There’s been no dissolving, there’s never been. SARS is not an institution. It’s a unit, and until these bad eggs are rooted out, SARS would forever remain. The mindset is rooted deeply, it is the mindset of Nigerians who are helpless and full of fear.
FSARS hasn’t ended. It’s just starting. Protests will end and you will see these same men in SARS vest yesterday on different garments and name, venting a different form of violence. This time, one borne from the place of anger and vengeance due to a tainted pride.
On the part of the Government not saying any tangible thing, SARS are their instruments, they use them to put fear in the people. A government running such would not want it to end. Also, they know that young people now know they have the numbers and power devoid of ethnicity, tribe and religion, and would demand more. Nigeria doesn’t have a Government that would want to give that. The intention to remain silent on this despite cries and deaths already gave this away.
In the last few days, many young people’s lives have been lost. The order given by both the Inspector General Of Police and The President himself fell on the dead ears of the police force. They keep raining ammunition and bullets on young people, it’s as if the president as the GCFR has lost control. Two days ago, one of the Protesters who was just an onlooker in the Ogbomosho, Oyo State protests died as a result of bullets from the police force. Yesterday at Surulere in Lagos, up to four died from same. There were horrific pictures and videos of flying around. One in which showed the emergency medical team (part of the Protesters) trying to resuscitate a man who later died.
In Abuja, The Federal Capital Territory where the President is, Policemen opener bullets on protesters, in addition to tanks of water being poured on them. One would wonder where the tanks of water are whenever there’s fire outbreak. Or how they never put a fire out without casualties despite the availability of this much water. All of the events of the past few weeks and days has shown that young people need to protest for more than the ban of SARS.
Young people should call for Police Reforms. We should write our demands down, and it should include;
*Identification of every Police Officer. No officer should wear a cloth without a name tag, in saner climes every officer is identifiable, reciprocate the same in Nigeria. Non-identification is one of the reasons they get away with crimes easily.
*EFCC and ICPC alone should be responsible for Internet Frauds, it’s their job, let them do it. ICPC is the unit directly responsible for internet frauds and cyber-crimes, EFCC is only for government-related embezzlement and frauds. Let them do their jobs. Let the rest of the officers go to Sambisa where they’re needed.
*Profiling which is the original problem should stop. Parents have a lot of work to do here, and family, church people (the holier than thou). Educate them about the ills of profiling young people. Laptops, Android and iOS Phones are not just for Yahoo boy, this is the 21st century. Educate them about the trend of modernity and Technology. Owning a Laptop doesn’t make one a fraudster.
*Education should be compulsory for Law Enforcement officers. It is only in this country that it is different, in saner climes it is constant training and retraining. Most of the so-called Law Enforcers cannot read ABC, not to talk of interpreting it. Yet, these are the people they give guns with bullets to. Not even a Pistol, an AK47. Law enforcers, that can’t read nor interpret the law, is that one legit?
*Governors should be given true power. They are CSO’s of their state with just name and zero powers to control the security of the state. Nigeria is not a technologically advanced state, hence the concentration of security powers in one person is bad. Young people have been waiting for days being harassed, brutalized, killed, at protests for one man, only one man to give an executive order for all these to stop. The slow passage of information and it’s dissemination is doing much damage already.
*Collective Responsibility is very important, we can achieve so much together. Together we stand, divided we fall. You see a policeman on the road harassing a young person, stopping a young person for no reason, you all should stay in numbers and see it settled. If there are calls you can make, do that. Our failure to do that is why we are where we are. It will reach everybody, eventually.
There is Power In Numbers. Use it.
(c) Aanu Oluyide 2020
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