#EndSARS: #EndBadGovernance Movement, others hold memorial at Lekki Tollgate
By Ishaya Ibrahim
The #EndBadGovernance Movement in Lagos has said it is joining other groups to mark the fourth memorial of #EndSARS massacre on Sunday, October 20th.
Recall that on October 20, 2020, scores of protesters were killed at Lekki Tollgate. Their offense – demanding the end to police brutality and the scrapping of the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS), the police unit notorious for extrajudicial killings.
As the #EndSARS protest erupted in October 2020 and lasted for almost two weeks, the government deployed soldiers at the Lekki Tollgate who violently crushed the protest by shooting at protesters, even when they were peaceful and waving the Nigerian flag.
A statement on behalf of the #EndBadGovernance Movement signed by Hassan Taiwo Soweto, Osugba Blessing and Oloye Adegboyega-Adeniji called on Nigerians to troop out enmasse to honour those killed by the government.
The statement reads: “Sunday 20 October 2024 makes it four years since scores of protesters were massacred by the Nigerian army and the police at the Lekki toll gate during the #EndSARS protest which erupted nationwide in the month of October 2020.
“To honor these martyrs of our collective struggle for liberty, the #Endbadgovernance movement Lagos State has decided to join other groups, victims of SARS and police brutality and their families as well as Nigerians of goodwill at the Lekki toll gate on Sunday 20 October 2024 for a memorial procession and rally, prayers and laying of wreath at the scene of the massacre four years ago. We hereby call on all Nigerian people and youth to troop out en masse on 20 October 2024 to honour the martyrs of #EndSARS.
“Four years ago, the #EndSARS protest took place in the context of decades of widespread police brutality in Nigeria committed by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and other police formations especially against young people. However, the #EndSARS protest was also about the condition of inequality, lack of access to affordable and quality public education, healthcare, shelter and decent jobs and the bleak future that faces many in a country endowed with huge wealth but whose potential for growth and progress has been stymied by corruption and capitalism.
“This explains why the first mention of the slogan #Endbadgovernance actually emerged in the last days of the #EndSARS protest in October 2020 as young protesters began to realize that ending the rogue SARS police unit without ending the corrupt and inequitable system that gave rise to it was not enough. This shows how much our struggle to end bad governance today owes to the efforts and sacrifices of our heroes past four years ago.
“Sadly, the Federal government, the army and the Lagos State government have continued to deny that any killings occurred at Lekki toll gate despite the abundance of evidence available as well as the report of a Judicial Panel of Inquiry.
“As we march out peacefully once again on Sunday 20, October 2024 to honour the martyrs of #EndSARS, we shall continue to demand and fight for justice for all those killed and maimed in the struggle as well as freedom for all #Endbadgovernance protesters in captivity or undergoing trial nationwide.”
