Women in the Agege area of Lagos on Friday joined
the End SARS protest.
The women numbering over a hundred marched around, chanting a
chorus in the Yoruba tongue.
A closer listen to the chants, reveal that the women were
pleading, calling for an end to the killing of their children.
The women asked the government to ensure the scrapping of the
Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).
Their protest comes on the heels of a 72-hour protest staged by
youths in Lagos.
The youths who began their protest on Wednesday, stayed up late
into Thursday night protesting that the police unit is scrapped
totally.
In recent times, the activities of the police unit have come
under scrutiny and several members of the squad have been found
guilty of using their position of authority to trample on the
rights of citizens, especially the youths.
End SARS protests were held in various locations across Nigeria
on Wednesday and Thursday, however, while many thought the noontime
demonstrations would be all for the day, a group of young people
including Mr. Debo Adebayo, a comedian popularly known as Mr.
Macaroni, stormed the premises of the Lagos Assembly, asking that
the lawmakers pass legislation that will see to the disbandment of
the SARS unit in the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).
The youths decried the constant harassment encountered in the
hands of SARS operatives, lamenting the rate at which many young
creatives are being battered and killed by the ‘ruthless’ police
officers in the squad.
Mr. Macaroni and the other youths spent hours at the gate
leading into the Lagos Assembly complex, seeking to see Governor
Babajide Sanwo-Olu who they were told was as expected not in the
office at the time.
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Officials and other members of the parliament tried to persuade
the angry youths to leave and return at dawn, but they held their
grounds and insisted that they would not leave till the number one
citizen in Lagos addresses them and assures them that they would
work to ensure an end if brought to the ‘menace’ that SARS has
become in the country.
“If we say we want to see the one that we elected into office,
it is not too much,” Mr. Macaroni insisted while addressing an
official of the Lagos legislature.
After a long while of waiting which tapered into the early hours
of Thursday, the Speaker of the Lagos House of Assembly, Hon.
Mudashiru Obasa, finally arrived at the scene to address the
protesting youths.
Mr. Obasa told the crowd that members of the parliament will
hold an emergency meeting on the morning of Thursday to deliberate
upon the #ENDSARS concerns. He promised it will not be a
deliberation by only the legislators, as the governor and all other
stakeholders concerned will be at the meeting.
The speaker apologized for the ordeal that the youths have been
through while staging their protest at the gates of the parliament,
and assured them that a lasting solution will be found for the
issues that have been tabled.
