It’s Day 8 of the #EndSarsNow peaceful protests and it’s still full steam ahead. Young Nigerians both here and abroad are showing up in droves to protests against police brutality and are demanding police reform. On the 11th of October, the IG of Police announced the disbandment of SARS. With no clear timelines and vague action points, Nigerians were not happy. This won’t be the first time promises have been made. In a bid to pacify some of the protests, on the 13th of October, in another press release, the IG of Police announced that a new Special Weapons and Tactics team (SWAT) will replace SARS. All Ex-SARS officers have been ordered to return to the Force Headquarters in Abuja for debriefing, psychological evaluation and retraining. Amidst the promises from the police and government officials, police officers continue to assault, kill and harass peaceful protesters.
Not surprisingly, these terms are failing to convince Nigerians of any real tangible change and peaceful protests have continued. If you’re looking for how to get involved in the peaceful protests, we’ve put together some information for you!
Use Hashtags
Hashtags are important, as they centralize specific tweets and posts. To keep the momentum going online, keep using the #EndSarsNow and #EndSwat hashtags!
To draw attention quickly to specific circumstances/news stories, use the respective hashtags and follow these accounts on Twitter:
- Legal Support: #EndSarsLegal
- Medical Support: #EndSarsHealth.
- Volunteer Support: @EndSarsResponse
- Dispatch Support: @funmioyatogun
- Resource Support: @chefobubu
Donate
- To help support some of the peaceful protests, donate here to The Feminist Coalition- a group of Nigerian feminists fighting against the injustice of SARS through peaceful protests, fundraising, and social media organisation.
Message your Senator!
It’s important to keep the pressure going on our Nigerian senators. To find their contact details, visit here.
Send an E-mail to the International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court investigates and prosecutes grave crimes which are concerns to the international community. What’s currently going on in Nigeria with the killings, harassment and assault of innocent civilians deserve legal action and justice. It seems like back home it’s very quiet on that front. One step to help ensure this happens is by sending an email to the International Criminal Court. Here’s a link to a template of the e-mail you can send.
Safety At Protests
If you’re going to attend a protest, your safety is paramount. Here a few tips:
- Know your rights – for a detailed breakdown of your rights to protest, please click here.
- Do not wear contact lenses to protests because if tear gas comes in contact with your contact lenses it can lead to temporary or permanent loss of sight
- Have an emergency contact.
- Let people be aware of your whereabouts
- Have a bottle of water with you to stay hydrated and wash tear gas out of your eyes, should this be the case.
- Make sure you carry your ID with you.
We’ll be updating this regularly.
