Today makes it exactly one year the street was flooded with the blood of innocent youths. Till today the culprits haven't been put to justice and the government are still in denial. It was the day the sun set at noon. Various lives were cut short.. mothers were made to weep over their sons and daughters. Fathers shook their heads suppressing the urge to cry. Something died in many that day, though they still move around. The white in our national flag turned red.
The nation stood awake watching videos of various bloodsheds. Our mental health strained. Our hands were numb, we didn’t know what to do. Who do we run to when those meant to protect us are the ones ending our lives?. who do we call when the ones who we put in power are the ones tormenting us?.
That day, that night, so many hopes were dashed. The warrior in us died without further protest, our voices became feeble, unshed tears makes our lungs tight. Please tell me, is it an offence to ask for what is rightfully one’s?. For so many years the youths of the country have been subjected to brutality at the hands of the police. They are treated like animals and so many lives have been lost from being manhandled by these officers.
Being young and rich is a crime, dressing well is a crime, owning a laptop is a crime, wearing shades and other accessories is the same as being a fraudster to them. Yes, we have some bad eggs that involve themselves in these cyber crimes but do we judge a whole with a part?.
It all started with another killing of innocent youth by the notorious "Special anti-robbery squad" popularly known as "Sars". we've asked for the group to be disbanded in time past but the government kept on relating with us with deceit. lies about it being disbanded only for them to resurge with more venom a few weeks after. A single tweet birth a protest like we’ve never seen before. We tagged it #EndSars. we said enough is enough, we can no longer go on like this. We gathered in tens, hundreds and thousands. Those who couldn’t go out on the street joined on social media. Twitter was the meeting setting ground. Celebrities all over the world were in solidarity with us. Rihanna, Beyonce, John boyega, Chance the rapper, Lil baby, Trey Songz to mention just a few all supported the movement. Our country Nigeria is known for its great people and they couldn’t watch while they suffer. They sent their support, Twitter gave us an emoji and monetary funds came in, in form of crypto.
what started as a fight against police brutality turned into a fight against bad Government. we asked for a change, asked for our rights, asked for a change that we desire. We stooped the activities in the country for days, slept outside, shared foods among ourselves, this kind of love and support has not been seen in years. They gave us a name or we gave ourselves a name rather - “The Soro soke” generation (Speak out loud generation). Our resolve can never be broken, we stayed hungry for days. Never has there been a more peaceful protest than this in the country's history. While at it, we exposed so many wrongdoings of our so-called leaders, the hidden palliatives in houses of various leaders are elders was exposed for all to see. little did we know they had something planned for us.
In the late hours of Tuesday 20th of October 2020, the youths were out again. Ready to keep vigil at the Lekki toll gate, but the unexpected happened. At first, they removed all the CCTV cameras at the toll gate, banned TV stations from broadcasting it, lied to international bodies. They refuted all allegations thrown their way with lies and even went ahead to rebrand "SARS" as "SWAT". We refused, once beaten twice shy, they say. we are not ready to be deceived like before.
Suddenly Gunmen came from nowhere and started shooting sparingly at the unarmed youths protesting peacefully. So many innocent youths died, young ones were sent to an early grave, so many hearts were shattered, hope quenched and destiny destroyed. Till today no explanation has been given as to the whereabouts of the shooters who were in military wear and who ordered the shooting. Instead, our government placed a ban on the two biggest weapons we had. They placed a ban on Twitter and also ban banks from involving in any crypto transactions.
We promised not to give up, we promise to vote them out ,come 2023, but it looks like we’ve forgotten all these promises. The blood of the innocent youths who died on the 20th of October year 2020 has gone to waste?. We the “soro soke” generation haven't registered for PVC. We are so pessimistic that some say negative things and even pray for the country not to be better. We believe no matter who we elect, be it youth or old, things will remain the same. If you are one of these sets of people that have given up on the country then you are not worthy to be called a Nigerian. Let’s not let the event that happened the day the sun set at noon to go in vain.
Thanks for reading! 🇳🇬💚🇳🇬
It took me hours to complete this piece. I was in tears while writing. Remembering the friends I lost to this act of tyranny by our government. It was hard to conjure two words together without tears flowing. I hope the blood of the innocent cries for justice from their grave.
Checking readcash this morning I realized one of my brothers has written something on it, you can check his out too. https://read.cash/@Abhay/20-10-2020-lekki-massacre-endsars-protest-2bb94fd3
Hola chico feliz, te saludo, te leo y te escribo desde Venezuela. Me he sentido muy identificada con tu articulo pues no es un secreto para nadie que la historia de mi pais se ha visto manchada con mucha sangre de luchadores en su gran mayoria jovenes por ver una Venezuela prospera e independiente. La juventud constituye una fuerza social muy importante para un pais y cuando leo lo que narras que le hicieron a tus amigos, me causa un profundo dolor... No desmayen! No desistan! "Los que mueren por la vida no pueden llamarse muerto"...Ustedes como jovenes van a marcar la diferencia en su pais pues son mayoria. El gobierno en su afan de poder, siempre va a seguir tomando acciones de ese tipo pero ustedes cuentan con un arma que ellos no podran quitarles y es la educación...manténganse estudiando esa es una forma para combartirlos. Me encanto que nos contaras todo lo que paso ese dia en Nigeria. Regalanos mas publicaciones como estas. Saludos