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Why All of Us Should Care About #EndSARS
Nigeria’s young activists are doing the work — but they can’t do it alone
I’m a child of Nigerian immigrants. With that comes the constant balance of navigating a dual identity with two countries that have shown — within months of each other — their lack of care for Black life and Black dignity.
Within months of each other, young people in the United States and in Nigeria took to the streets, exercising their constitutional right to protest peacefully to call for the end of police brutality — in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
Nigerians in New York City marched last week in the third demonstration to raise awareness and amplify the youth of the most populous Black nation who’ve been appealing for the right to live free from the impunity of the police force, most notably the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). This police unit was formed in the early 1990s to combat heightened kidnappings and robberies but recently evolved to subjecting Nigerians — especially the youth — to extortion, torture, unlawful arrests, and killings.
A viral video showing the killing of a young man by SARS in Delta State circulated on social media about a week after Nigeria marked 60 years of independence from Britain, breaking the camel’s back of wider issues that young…
