To the Nigerian High Commissioner to Canada, we urge immediate action to End SARS!
The Issue
Dear High Commissioner Adeyinka Asekun,
The pain of our fellow Nigerians back home who have faced unrelenting injustice at the hands of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) has reached a boiling point. Peaceful protests are taking place across our home country with a unified message that this cannot continue. So far, at least 10 people have been killed by police while several others have been attacked, tear-gassed, injured or their property damaged, simply for making their voices heard.
Even though the government admitted to problems of gross misconduct by SARS several times, their efforts to address them were inadequate and insufficient. All attempts at reform failed.
On October 11, the Federal Government announced the “dissolution” of SARS, but what we have seen since is continued violence and intimidation towards protesters from what seem to be SARS officers performing as a rogue unit, and interruption by bribed thugs. Now, the new Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) unit has been formed, and there are plans to redeploy SARS officers without proper training and without adequate steps to identify the criminals among them to ensure they are punished and justice is served.
Our compatriots in Nigeria have made themselves clear. They do not want SARS, or SARS under any other name. They do not want SWAT. They want an end to the rampant police misconduct and police brutality in Nigeria. They want to feel safe out on the streets instead of fearful of the people who are supposed to protect them. We stand in solidarity with them.
High Commissioner Asekun, as our conduit to the Federal Government of Nigeria and the highest ranking official of the office that is meant to see to our needs and interests, your silence and unavailability on this matter has been deafening and disappointing. We want to hear from you - not your assistant or the Head of Chancery. We want to hear directly from YOU. What are you and your office doing to ensure the voices of the Nigerians you represent here in Canada are being heard and responded to by the Federal Government?
In response to the announcement, Nigerian youth put forward five actions for the government to take:
- Immediate release of all arrested protesters
- Justice for all deceased victims of police brutality and appropriate compensation for their families
- Setting up an independent body to oversee the investigation and prosecution of all reports of police misconduct (within 10 days)
- Psychological evaluation and retraining (confirmed by an independent body) of all disbanded SARS officers before they can be redeployed
- Increase police salary so that they are adequately compensated for protecting the lives and property of citizens
Yet, there has been no tangible progress to advance these simple requests.
Our ask to you:
Apply pressure on the Federal Government to take immediate action to end police brutality in Nigeria by meeting the five requests put forward.
We urge you and your office to send and fight for our message. We will not believe rumours of the end of SARS and the end of police brutality until we see proof. We need to see actions and not just words. We need to see processes and timelines. We need to see a change in the national culture of policing. We do not want officers who have terrorised the nation through SARS to be "redeployed" and given refreshed and renewed avenues to do more harm.
While we may be in Canada, we are deeply affected and spurred to action by the injustices our compatriots face in Nigeria and anywhere in the world. Many of us even have traumatic stories of our experiences with police back home and abroad.
Across the country, from Vancouver to St. John’s, Nigerians are joining their fellow citizens in protest.
Both in the diaspora and at home, we do not want to be led or represented by invisible figureheads who collect exorbitant salaries and don’t engage with their people or act in their interests.
We want a government that listens, responds and works. We want a better Nigeria where systems are for the people and the youth have a future. We join our fellow citizens in demanding that swift action be taken and that justice be served. We will continue to amplify their voices and their message. We cannot “build a nation where peace and justice shall reign” if our government is not truly for the people.
High Commissioner Adeyinka Asekun, we expect that you will use the influence of your position and your office to stand with us.
Sincerely,
Nigerians in Canada
About the #ENDSARS Protest:
On October 8, Nigerians began protests across their home country with the aim of bringing an end to the existence of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, also known as SARS.
Problems with SARS are not new. In 2010, Amnesty International Nigeria released a report detailing several atrocities committed by SARS officers, including the detention and torture of three okada riders in Port Harcourt, during which, for over a week, they were beaten every night with belts. Amnesty International Nigeria also reported at least 82 cases of torture, ill-treatment, and extra-judicial executions by SARS between January 2017 and May 2020.
The treachery of SARS touches every part of the criminal spectrum, from harassment and violence in all its forms, to bribery and blackmail, to kidnapping, rape and murder. Their witch-hunt tactics violate everything we understand to be basic human rights. They obstruct the lives of law-abiding citizens, taking particular aim at youth for disgustingly superficial reasons. Viewing dreadlocks and other hairstyles, tattoos, piercings, expensive cars and devices, and other harmless forms of self-expression as automatic symbols of criminal behavior, they have used gross stereotyping as the basis to commit their crimes.
Too many Nigerians have stories of traumatizing encounters with SARS. Young people were made afraid to leave their homes, go to their jobs, drive on roads, travel at night, knowing they may be harassed, shaken down, arrested or detained without cause, beaten, raped, killed, or even lost to the Nigerian police system with their whereabouts completely unknown to their loved ones.
With several failed efforts over recent years by the government to reform the force, the stories continued until the people decided enough was enough. Using peaceful protest and social media, people are raising their voices, sharing their stories and insisting on change.
The Issue
Dear High Commissioner Adeyinka Asekun,
The pain of our fellow Nigerians back home who have faced unrelenting injustice at the hands of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) has reached a boiling point. Peaceful protests are taking place across our home country with a unified message that this cannot continue. So far, at least 10 people have been killed by police while several others have been attacked, tear-gassed, injured or their property damaged, simply for making their voices heard.
Even though the government admitted to problems of gross misconduct by SARS several times, their efforts to address them were inadequate and insufficient. All attempts at reform failed.
On October 11, the Federal Government announced the “dissolution” of SARS, but what we have seen since is continued violence and intimidation towards protesters from what seem to be SARS officers performing as a rogue unit, and interruption by bribed thugs. Now, the new Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) unit has been formed, and there are plans to redeploy SARS officers without proper training and without adequate steps to identify the criminals among them to ensure they are punished and justice is served.
Our compatriots in Nigeria have made themselves clear. They do not want SARS, or SARS under any other name. They do not want SWAT. They want an end to the rampant police misconduct and police brutality in Nigeria. They want to feel safe out on the streets instead of fearful of the people who are supposed to protect them. We stand in solidarity with them.
High Commissioner Asekun, as our conduit to the Federal Government of Nigeria and the highest ranking official of the office that is meant to see to our needs and interests, your silence and unavailability on this matter has been deafening and disappointing. We want to hear from you - not your assistant or the Head of Chancery. We want to hear directly from YOU. What are you and your office doing to ensure the voices of the Nigerians you represent here in Canada are being heard and responded to by the Federal Government?
In response to the announcement, Nigerian youth put forward five actions for the government to take:
- Immediate release of all arrested protesters
- Justice for all deceased victims of police brutality and appropriate compensation for their families
- Setting up an independent body to oversee the investigation and prosecution of all reports of police misconduct (within 10 days)
- Psychological evaluation and retraining (confirmed by an independent body) of all disbanded SARS officers before they can be redeployed
- Increase police salary so that they are adequately compensated for protecting the lives and property of citizens
Yet, there has been no tangible progress to advance these simple requests.
Our ask to you:
Apply pressure on the Federal Government to take immediate action to end police brutality in Nigeria by meeting the five requests put forward.
We urge you and your office to send and fight for our message. We will not believe rumours of the end of SARS and the end of police brutality until we see proof. We need to see actions and not just words. We need to see processes and timelines. We need to see a change in the national culture of policing. We do not want officers who have terrorised the nation through SARS to be "redeployed" and given refreshed and renewed avenues to do more harm.
While we may be in Canada, we are deeply affected and spurred to action by the injustices our compatriots face in Nigeria and anywhere in the world. Many of us even have traumatic stories of our experiences with police back home and abroad.
Across the country, from Vancouver to St. John’s, Nigerians are joining their fellow citizens in protest.
Both in the diaspora and at home, we do not want to be led or represented by invisible figureheads who collect exorbitant salaries and don’t engage with their people or act in their interests.
We want a government that listens, responds and works. We want a better Nigeria where systems are for the people and the youth have a future. We join our fellow citizens in demanding that swift action be taken and that justice be served. We will continue to amplify their voices and their message. We cannot “build a nation where peace and justice shall reign” if our government is not truly for the people.
High Commissioner Adeyinka Asekun, we expect that you will use the influence of your position and your office to stand with us.
Sincerely,
Nigerians in Canada
About the #ENDSARS Protest:
On October 8, Nigerians began protests across their home country with the aim of bringing an end to the existence of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, also known as SARS.
Problems with SARS are not new. In 2010, Amnesty International Nigeria released a report detailing several atrocities committed by SARS officers, including the detention and torture of three okada riders in Port Harcourt, during which, for over a week, they were beaten every night with belts. Amnesty International Nigeria also reported at least 82 cases of torture, ill-treatment, and extra-judicial executions by SARS between January 2017 and May 2020.
The treachery of SARS touches every part of the criminal spectrum, from harassment and violence in all its forms, to bribery and blackmail, to kidnapping, rape and murder. Their witch-hunt tactics violate everything we understand to be basic human rights. They obstruct the lives of law-abiding citizens, taking particular aim at youth for disgustingly superficial reasons. Viewing dreadlocks and other hairstyles, tattoos, piercings, expensive cars and devices, and other harmless forms of self-expression as automatic symbols of criminal behavior, they have used gross stereotyping as the basis to commit their crimes.
Too many Nigerians have stories of traumatizing encounters with SARS. Young people were made afraid to leave their homes, go to their jobs, drive on roads, travel at night, knowing they may be harassed, shaken down, arrested or detained without cause, beaten, raped, killed, or even lost to the Nigerian police system with their whereabouts completely unknown to their loved ones.
With several failed efforts over recent years by the government to reform the force, the stories continued until the people decided enough was enough. Using peaceful protest and social media, people are raising their voices, sharing their stories and insisting on change.
The Decision Makers
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Petition created on October 12, 2020