Will the EndSARS protest change Nigeria?
The Inquiry
BBC
4.6 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 12 November 2020
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
For nearly two weeks last month, angry young Nigerians took to the streets in their tens of thousands, blocking major roads in cities across Africa's most populous nation. What began as a protest against the hated police Special Anti-Robbery Squad, or SARS, soon became a conduit for a wider anger with the people who have been in charge of Nigeria for decades. in this week's Inquiry, Kavita Puri asks: will the EndSARS movement change Nigeria?
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is the inquiry on the BBC World Service with me, Kavita Puri, each week one question, |
| 0:07.0 | four expert witnesses and an answer. The light was starting to fade as three Toyota vans arrived at the Lucky tollgate in Lagos, Nigeria. Inside were men in camouflage. |
| 0:27.0 | Thousands of protesters were gathered. They were singing the Nigerian National Anthem, words of hope, |
| 0:37.0 | to build a nation where peace and justice shall rain they sang. Young men and women were waving their country's flag when the first shots were heard. |
| 0:52.0 | In the panic, protesters try to flee, but some were |
| 0:56.6 | killed, though the number is disputed, and Nigerian authorities insist they did not fire directly on the crowd. |
| 1:07.0 | Why were peaceful demonstrators targeted? |
| 1:14.0 | Their slogan was End SARS, not to be confused with SARS or coronavirus. |
| 1:20.0 | Ironically, the protesters were demanding an end to police brutality. |
| 1:29.0 | SARS refers to the notorious special anti-robbery squad, a unit with a long record of human rights abuses. |
| 1:37.0 | Protesters have been out on the streets for some weeks, but the deaths are Lecky Tolgate which were live streamed on social media by |
| 1:45.4 | demonstrators and watched with horror by many Nigerians around the world tempered |
| 1:51.7 | the street movement all across the country. |
| 1:54.3 | This week on the inquiry we ask will the end SARS protests change Nigeria. |
| 2:08.0 | Part one, fear. They are people who have said that they were most cared of men of the special |
| 2:18.3 | Antrabi squad than they are of the am robbers that they were supposed to be protected against by SARS. |
| 2:24.0 | Sean Bakari is programs manager for the Human Rights Group Amnesty International in Nigeria. |
| 2:31.0 | They drive fear into the heart of many people. |
| 2:35.0 | We've had stories of SARS killing people justly on the streets for the mere fact that they are suspected to be criminals. |
| 2:45.0 | It wasn't supposed to be that way. |
| 2:47.0 | SARS, the special anti-robbery squad, |
| 2:50.0 | started in Lagos back in 1992 when Nigeria was under military rule. |
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