In October 2020, Nigeria\u2019s security services brutally put down nationwide protests against police brutality, popularly known as #ENDSARS. The protest highlighted widespread abuse of human rights by the Nigeria Police and security services. Citizens came out in hundreds of thousands unto the streets of major cities in the country to protest human rights abuse by the police and other security personnel. The October 2020 memorial comes with bitter tales of high handed suppression of the protest. Civic groups recount reports of soldiers shooting protesters at the epicentre of the protest at Lekki tollgate in Lagos. According to some accounts, protesters were shot, some killed and bodies removed from the scene. Although the Nigerian security agencies, including the police have denied these reports of shootings and killings, witnesses testifying at the #ENDSARS investigation panels set up by many states in the country have given evidence to support their allegations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the #ENDSARS\nmemorial protest held today, Wednesday, 20th<\/sup> October, scenes of\nforceful attempts to end the protest are evident. The police had warned\nprotesters to demonstrate \u2018virtually\u2019 and \u2018indoors\u2019. Police personnel were\ndeployed to protest venues to quell demonstrations. The protesters had designated\n8am to 10am protest time in order to manage fears of high-handed security\nreprisals. In a particular incident at the Lekki tollgate in Lagos, television\nfootages show a young man beaten and bloodied by the police and resisting\narrest and forceful takeaway into a police van. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Nigeria police has established notoriety for brutality and unaccountability over human rights issues. Several years of advocacy by Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and citizens led to the passage of a new Police Act in 2020. Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC) drove final efforts that led to the National Assembly passing the Police Bill and the President assenting to it in September 2020. More than a year after this, a crisis of human rights violations and accountability failures with the Nigeria Police, remain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n