Human rights activist, Aisha Yesufu, has accused the Nigerian government of behaving like a terrorist organisation in its handling of the October 2020 #EndSARS protest, during which unarmed citizens were killed at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos.
Speaking on Arise Television’s Prime Time programme on Monday, as Nigerians marked the fifth anniversary of the protest, Yesufu described the Lekki shooting as a painful and heartbreaking memory that continues to haunt many.
“When the shooting was going on, a young man across from me flinched as soon as the guns started firing, and it’s just something that evokes such a heartbreaking memory — that Nigeria could do such to its young ones,” she said.
According to her, the peaceful protest, which demanded an end to police brutality, was not naturally concluded but violently suppressed.
“The protest didn’t die down, rather it was killed off. Guns were brought in. We saw military officers who should be protecting Nigerians turn their guns on citizens — young people who were merely reciting the national anthem and waving the Nigerian flag,” she recalled.
Yesufu said the incident confirmed the impunity of state security forces who often threaten citizens with death without consequence.
“When a police officer or any security agent says they will kill and nothing will happen, on 20-10-2020 we saw that indeed they can kill Nigerians and nothing would happen,” she said.
“It’s really so sad that the Nigerian government, like I have always said, decided to behave like a terrorist government by killing its own citizens on 20-10-2020,” she added.
Yesufu praised the courage and organisation of young Nigerians who led the #EndSARS protests, lamenting that despite their peaceful conduct, they were met with violence and intimidation from the state.