This morning I got dressed to go out and I prepped myself as usual. Morning prep usually involves packing my bag but today I wasn't going out with a bag. I put my money in my jeans pocket and stepped out. I was so far off from the house when I realized I didn't put my facemask in my pocket.
The damn mask!
I don't wear a mask because it's pretty useless. Using a cloth mask is like pouring water into a basket if you ask me. Down here, we wear masks to avoid police harassment. It's crazy because these policemen themselves do not wear a mask. If you're caught without a mask, you're made to pay a fine which is illegal by the way. You don't even need to wear the mask, just have it in your purse and you're corona safe by their standard.
I've seen people walking on the road arrested illegally because they weren't with a mask and I hear some people sleep in the cell for not having money to give these officers. I'm no criminal but I get anxious when I see the police, especially the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).
As the name suggests, this branch of the police force is meant to go after thieves, robbers and the likes but that's just the opposite we're currently experiencing. You probably must have seen the hashtag #EndSARS trending today worldwide. The Nigerian youths are being harassed and killed by the SARS everyday and nothing is being done.
These men for years have made it their duty to harass every young man who looks good, has a phone/laptop, dreads, car, e.t.c. You literally just have to be a young Nigerian and breathing to be harassed by these fuckers. A lot of us have first hand stories of harassment and a lot also are not alive to tell their stories.
They are broad daylight robbers and killers who arrest and kill for no reason. Oh, they rape girls too. When the SARS get you, they steal from you, going as far as forcing you to withdraw all of your money from the ATM with threats to kill you if you don't comply. I kid you not, they mean every word of that threat. We've seen it happen over and over again. This time, we've had enough.
The government has paid deaf ears to the cries of the youths to #EndSARS over and over again, and now there are peaceful protests all over the country. The leaders have refused to address this worldwide trending issue for over a day now, a few hours ago the president expressed his 'shock'. Really though? This has been on for years and you just gonna express shock?!
I saw some protesters on my way today and I was so scared for them because that peaceful protest could become bloody at any moment. These protesters know what the police is capable of yet they put their lives on the line. The youths are tired.
At one of the protests yesterday, a lady was shot in the mouth, at another location several people were shot. Today, the police shot sporadically as protesters ran for their lives. These men really are killing people begging them to stop killing us.
The government usually come up with some bullshit 'reform' of the system but we want none of that. It's just gonna be same people over and over again. I want to road travel freely with my laptop in my bag not worrying about SARS harassing me. I don't want my boyfriend shot because he refuses to be illegally searched, neither do I want my brother tagged a 'yahoo boy' (internet fraudster) because he looks good.
We don't want no reforms, we don't want to die young, #EndSARS #EndSARSBrutality.