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The Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) is branch of the Nigerian police force, and has been accused of unwarranted searches, arrests without trial, rape, and extortion. These issues were first brought to light when human rights activist Segun Awosanya started the #EndSARS campaign on Twitter in 2016. The movement gained worldwide recognition on October 3rd, 2020, when a video of a SARS officer shooting a young Nigerian spread rapidly on the internet. #EndSARS is a social movement of mass protests against police brutality, and protesters are demanding police reform and the disbandment of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad.
In 2008, police reform plans were introduced in Nigeria, but the public police remained corrupt. This raised questions within the public of whether reforms make a significant difference to policing standards and practices. According to Daniel E. Agbiboa in the article titled “‘Policing is not work: it is stealing by force’: corrupt policing and related abuses in everyday Nigeria” surveys and popular culture concluded that public representations of the Nigeria Police Force are very negative. The study also explains that corrupt and abusive policing in Nigeria includes coercion, falsifications, and tampering with statements and investigations.
Illegal arrest and detention are also some of the accusations the Special Anti-Robbery Squad are facing. Nigerian women that participated in the #EndSARS hashtag on social media also recounted how they had witnessed or heard about other women allegedly being sexually harassed by members of the SARS. The Special Anti-Robbery Squad was also accused of extrajudicial killings; protesters on Twitter claimed the police unit was illegally killing harmless and innocent civilians.
Despite the police reform plans, not much changed in the police’s practices, and tensions continued to rise between the SARS and citizens, so when the #EndSARS movement started, the main demands of protesters were police reform and the disbandment of the SARS. Social media played a large role in the #EndSARS movement gaining traction globally. Many Nigerian youths actively engaged in social media to bring attention to the perceived brutality. Nigerian youths described how the Special Anti-Robbery Squad engaged in unwarranted brutality against civilians while working. Ikem Godspower Ujene, and Agatha Obiangeri Orji-Egwu’s study titled “Information Communication Technology as a Tool for Social Control: A Study of Nigeria’s #EndSARS” explained that “the growing feeling of insecurity” in Nigeria and the “fearsomeness of the SARS operatives was spotted to have pervaded the unending tweets.” Youths were mostly in support of disbanding this police unit because they are most targeted, most vulnerable group.
Nigerians are unhappy with the SARS’ actions, as they are paid to protect the public. Civilians increasingly witness the squad shooting at defenceless civilians, incidents that have fueled the #EndSARS protests. Public protests against police organizations are not common in Nigeria, but the civilians’ uproar over the Special Anti-Robbery Squad’s action has caused a series of online and offline protests between November 2017 and October 2020. #EndSARS protesters are mainly made up of Nigerian youths demanding for police accountability, police reform, and the disbandment of the squad. The SARS has been disbanded multiple times over the last few years, and of the latest announcement on October 11, 2020, the unit has disbanded again, although this announcement has been viewed with skepticism.
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