Nigerian bishops support #EndSARS, decry violence

By Mark Michael

ANGLICAN LEADERS across Nigeria have spoken out in response to the nationwide #EndSARS protests in recent weeks, urging government officials to curtail police brutality and protesters to remain non-violent. 

The youth-led #EndSARS movement has been calling for the disbanding of the national Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) since 2017. Allegations of discriminatory profiling of young men based on fashion choices and tattoos, as well as illegal roadblocks, unwarranted searches, kidnapping, murder, theft, rape and torture have dogged the police unit for decades. Nationwide protests began on Oct. 8, after videos of young men being shot by SARS began trending on Twitter.

At an Oct. 19 protest, Archbishop Henry Ndukuba, the Primate of All Nigeria, said that the Church of Nigeria “wishes to express its solidarity with the courageous young people of this country.” Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, who knows the country well from his days as an oil executive, expressed his hopes that this can be a “time for heroes” in the troubled state in an Oct. 26 op-ed in Lagos’ This Day newspaper.

Tens of thousands of young Nigerians have taken to the streets in cities across the country while the Nigerian diaspora have organized protests in major cities around the world.

In synodical addresses, press conferences and newspaper columns, Anglican bishops across Nigeria have expressed support and encouraged youth to make their voices heard constructively to the youthful nation, in which 70 percent of citizens are under the age of 30.

The Rt. Rev. Dr. Humphrey Olumakaiye, Bishop of Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city and a centre of protest activity, wrote in an Oct. 14 post on The Tribune Online, a Lagos news site: “With the recent uproar in our nation and in fact across the globe, on social media and on our roads about the #EndSARS agitation; the church of God is not putting her head in the sand expecting issues to redress itself. This is a genuine agitation, and it is borne out of deep concern for the future of this nation.”

“The Church cannot be silent in the midst of such credible reports of widespread abuse of power and oppression of citizens, especially by those empowered by the state to protect citizens rights, lives and property,” Abp Ndukuba said. “The government must first fully assimilate the demands on behalf of countless victims of police brutality and address the issues of gross abuse of power and privilege.”

President Muhammad Buhari’s government pledged to disband the controversial unit on Oct. 11. Most protestors, though, remain unconvinced, as the government has made and broken such promises three times before. As gatherings continued to swell in number, Nigerian police and the army have been called in to disperse the crowds.

On Oct. 20 troops fired on a peaceful vigil for #EndSARS victims at Lagos’ Lekki Toll Gate after participants refused to heed a city-wide curfew. Government sources acknowledge that 25 unarmed protesters were injured and 2 killed, while activists suggest actual numbers were much higher.

Bp Olumakaiye described the Lekki Toll Gate attacks as “a despicable and outrageous act of terror against harmless citizens,” adding “It is highly depressing the same government, which promised to reform the police and bring an end to police brutality, ended up using the military against them.”

Welby also condemned the attacks saying on Oct. 26 that “the deliberate shooting of unarmed protestors in Lagos and other parts of Nigeria last week was an outrage. I say this as a human being, as a Christian, and as the leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion – which counts some 18 million Nigerians as part of our global family.”

As tensions continue to escalate, many reports of looting and attacks on police have also been attributed to the protesters, and church leaders have criticized the violence. 

Olumakaiye said, “…what we feared most has now befallen us, such as burning and destruction of government and private properties, looting of shops, offices and houses. These should not be seen as the solution to our challenges as a nation, as these will only take us backward.”   TAP         – The Living Church