Your #EndSARS Protest Not In Vain – FG Tells Youths

The Federal Government has assured Nigerian youths that their voice has been heard loudly following the End SARS protests that rocked most part of the nation.

This was made known in a post on Twitter by the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, in celebration of the Maiden National Youth Day.

His tweet read: “Nov 1- Today, Nigeria celebrates its Maiden National Youth Day. We focus on issues that concern our youth.

“With the protests that have occurred across the country, Nigeria stands at the cusp of change in youth development. Already, that change has begun. What is needed is to deepen the youth initiatives and accelerate the onboarding of beneficiaries in a transparent and effectual manner.”

Sunday Dare stated that time was time for the Nigerian youths to sit with the federal government to deepen their initiatives to effect a change.

“As a country, we are blessed with a bulging youth population that can turn out to be the country’s greatest resource if we make the right investments and in a timely manner.

“The protest of our youth shall not be in vain. It is time to engage government constructively. Come to the table. I say to the youth -Your time has come,” Dare added.

Naija News recalls that protesting youths in Nigeria agitating for the end to police brutalization and extrajudicial killings of Nigerians, stormed the streets, protesting the brutalities, humiliation, and extortion of Nigerians, especially the youths.

The protesters demanded an end to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a police unit under the Force Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department headed by the Deputy Inspector General of Police Anthony Ogbizi, using a hashtag: #EndSARS.

On Sunday, October 11, 2020, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu, disbanded SARS following a widespread protest from Nigerians worldwide. However, since the announcement that SARS has been scrapped, the protesters refused to leave the streets, which a Presidential Advisory Committee said might force the Federal Government to take drastic measures against the protesting youths.

As stated by PACAC Chairman, Prof. Itse Saga, men suspected to soldiers of the Nigerian Army invaded a peaceful protest at Lekki toll gate on Tuesday evening, October 20, killing #EndSARS protesters in the process.

Last week Friday, an eyewitness of the massacre, Obianuju Udeh, a popular Nigerian disc jockey known as DJ Switch, said she and other #EndSARS protesters counted 15 corpses at the Lekki toll gate when men in army uniform opened fire on peaceful protesters.

“We were teargassed. We would run and come back and the only thing we fought with was our flags. We would sit on the floor and raise our hands up, waving the flags and singing the national anthem. That’s all we had,” she said.

“The military were there killing Nigerian citizens. The police and SARS came and were doing the same thing, aiming and shooting. They were pointing the gun at us and shooting live bullets. Who takes live bullets to protest ground? Who does that?” DJ Switch questioned.