Nigeria rulers face growing protests against brutal cop units
https://themilitant.com/2020/10/24/nigeria-rulers-face-growing-protests-against-brutal-cop-units/
BY JANET POST
Vol. 84/No. 43
November 2, 2020
Tens of thousands of workers and youth have demonstrated in October
across Nigeria to demand government’s repressive SARS police unit be
dissolved. Above, Oct. 11 rally in Lagos.
REUTERS/TEMILADE ADELAJA
Tens of thousands of workers and youth have demonstrated in October
across Nigeria to demand government’s repressive SARS police unit be
dissolved. Above, Oct. 11 rally in Lagos.
Tens of thousands of workers and youth have protested against police
brutality in more than 100 cities across Nigeria since Oct. 8. From
Lagos to rural areas, demonstrators are demanding that the Special
Anti-Robbery Squad of the Nigerian cops be disbanded. On Oct. 17, 10,000
people marched in Abuja, the capital, despite a government
COVID-19-justified ban on protests there.
As we go to press, reports from demonstrators in Lagos say several
protesters have been killed and many injured the night of Oct. 20 after
cops brutally attacked the central rallying point at the Lekki toll
gate. Demonstrators had been seated on the ground waving Nigerian flags
and singing the national anthem.
Amnesty International documented 82 cases of torture, killings,
extortion and rape by SARS between January 2017 and May 2020, including
“mock execution, beatings, waterboarding, and near-asphyxiation.”
Dressed in plainclothes and armed with heavy weapons, these cop thugs
set up roadblocks and checkpoints to extort money. They regularly stop
and harass young people — the average age in Nigeria is 18.
Even after Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari announced Oct. 11 that
the Special Anti-Robbery Squad would be disbanded, the protests just
intensified. Buhari has made this promise before, and says he is now
putting together a national SWAT unit, including former SARS cops. That
same day authorities ordered all members of this police squad to report
to Abuja for “debriefing and psychological examination” in order to re-up.
“I think about 80% of the people, most of them young, were attending
protests for the first time,” Oladunni Segun, a leader of the Amilcar
Cabral Ideological School Movement, told the Militant by phone from
Lagos Oct. 18. “And they would protest all day.”
Sheriff Sholagbade, also a leader of the group, told the Militant that
the government’s efforts to undercut the protests have failed, and
they’re “getting bigger and bigger.” He said that they also provide an
opportunity to discuss politics and what confronts working people in
Nigeria today.
“Police will remain police,” Segun said. “They are an institution of
class repression for the capitalists. We need to see the bigger struggle
beyond just police reform.”
Before the Oct. 20 murderous assault, 10 protesters had been killed and
dozens injured as the cops used tear gas, water cannons and live
ammunition. Demonstrators are demanding justice for those killed,
compensation for their families, immediate release of all those arrested
and an independent body to investigate and prosecute police abuse.
The protests take place amid a deepening economic crisis and the
continuing spread of coronavirus. The virus-related lockdowns on
production and trade have had a big effect on the capitalist economy —
the largest in Africa.
Nigeria is also the most populous country in Africa. Some 35% of
Nigerians aged 15-34 are unemployed. More than half the country’s 206
million people are estimated to live on less than $2 a day, and life
expectancy is only 54 years. Inflation is rising and revenues from oil,
the country’s biggest natural resource, have plunged.
As of mid October, over 60,000 Nigerians had contracted COVID-19.
Nigerian immigrants and supporters have held actions in solidarity with
the protests, including in Berlin, London, Toronto, New York, Atlanta,
Houston, and Washington, D.C.
“Last week, they harassed me and my friends. They said they wanted to
feast on us,” 23-year-old Seun Gbadamosi told Al Jazeera at a rally in
Ibadan. “This is why we protest. This is why we march. We want total
disbandment.”
On Oct. 15 the Nigerian army warned demonstrators — calling them
“subversive elements and troublemakers” — that it would back the
government “in whatever capacity to maintain law and order.” The
military has announced a nationwide armed exercise, called Operation
Crocodile Smile, to take place from Oct. 20 to Dec. 31.
Front Page Articles
Workers need our own party, a labor party!
For a shorter workweek with no cut in pay to stop layoffs
Vote Socialist Workers Party! Expand reach of ‘Militant’
Nigeria rulers face growing protests against brutal cop units
Determination to bring down regime fuels months of protests in Belarus
Feature Articles
Quebec meeting celebrates fight against 1970 War Measures Act
Also In This Issue
UK bosses go after workers while London-EU talks stall
After bitter 9-month strike, Asarco miners keep up fight
Dominion grocery strikers expand picketing, seek support
Colombia miners strike over coal boss concession demands
Fight against Florida prison ban on the ‘Militant’
Campaign to sell Militant subscriptions and books Sept. 26 – Nov. 24
(week three)
Socialist Workers Party-Building Fund Sept. 26 – Nov. 24 (week three)
Books of the Month
Organizing the South remains a key challenge before labor
25, 50 and 75 years ago
© Copyright 2020 The Militant - 306 W. 37th Street, 13th floor - New
York, NY 10018 - themilitant@xxxxxxx
Cookies
This site uses cookies to improve your experience. Learn more.
Okay, thanks
--
_____
Robert G. Ingersoll
“Give me the storm and tempest of thought and action, rather than the dead calm
of ignorance and faith! Banish me from Eden when you will; but first let me eat
of the fruit of the tree of knowledge!”
― Robert G. Ingersoll, The Works Of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. Iii