Celebrated Nigerian writer, Chimamanda Adichie recently wrote a heartful column on the New York Times and Guardian Nigeria to address the ongoing #EndSARS saga in Nigeria.

The writer who had been mourning her father broke her silence after the Lekki toll gate shooting by security operatives that resulted in loss of lives.

 

In the detailed article, Chimamanda Adichie wrote on the impunity of SARS officials, backed by the government in power. She also addressed the killings done under the cover of darkness by the Nigerian Army.

Read excerpts from the article below

“There have been End SARS protests, since 2016, but October 2020 was different, a tipping point had been reached. The protests signaled the overturning of convention. The protesters insisted on not having a central leadership. It was social rather than traditional media that documented the protests, and, in a country with firm class divisions, the protests cut across class.

 

The protests were peaceful, insistently peaceful, consistently peaceful. They were organized mostly on social media by young Nigerians, born in the 1980s and 1990s, a disaffected generation with the courage to act. Their bravery is inspiring. They speak to hope and to the possibility of what Nigeria could become. Of those involved in the organization, none is more remarkable than a group called Feminist Coalition, set up by Nigerian feminists, who have raised MORE THAN $180,000 and have provided legal aid, security and food to protesters.

 

“But the Nigerian government tried to disrupt their fund-raising. The Nigerian government has reportedly accused Flutterwave, the company through which the donation link was created, of accepting funds from terrorists. Even though it is clear that Feminist Coalition’s members are not terrorists. Their fund-raising link suddenly stopped working. Still, they persisted, and began to raise money through Bitcoin.”

Also read:
-“My Life Has Changed Forever”: Chimamanda Adichie Pens Heart-stirring Tribute To Her Late Dad 
-Chimanda Adichie Shares What Grief Looks Like For Her With The New Yorker
-Chimamanda Adichie Is Refusing To Become An American Citizen, Here’s Her Reasons

“From the capital city of Abuja to the small town of Ogbomosho, state agents attacked and beat up protesters. The police killed a few and detained many others. Until social media and video evidence forced them to release some of the detained. Still, the protesters persisted.

 

“The Lagos State government accused protesters of violence. But it defied common sense that a PROTEST so consistently committed to peaceful means would suddenly turn around and become violent. Protesters know they have everything to lose in a country like Nigeria where the mere hint of violence gives free reign to murderous security forces.

 

“Nigeria’s political culture is steeped in state-sponsored thuggery. Politicians routinely hire thugs to cause chaos, especially during elections. And many people believed that thugs had been hired to compromise the protests. On social media, videos that attested to this — of thugs getting into SUVs that belonged to the government. Of hardened and hungry young men admitting they were paid to join the protests and become violent. Still, the protesters persisted.

 

“At about noon on Oct. 20, 2020, about two weeks into the protests, the Lagos State governor suddenly announced a curfew that would begin at 4 p.m. Which gave people in a famously traffic-clogged state only a few hours to get home and hunker down. I feared that a curfew would provide an excuse for state violence, that in the name of restoring order, the army and police would unleash violence.

 

Still, I was unprepared for the carnage that followed at the Lekki Toll Gate, the most prominent in Lagos. Government officials reportedly cut the security cameras, then cut off the bright floodlights, leaving only a darkness heavy with foreboding. The protesters were holding Nigerian flags, sitting on the ground, some kneeling, some singing the national anthem, peaceful and determined.

 

“A blurry video of what happened next has gone viral. Soldiers walk toward the protesters with a terrifyingly casual calm, the kind of calm you cannot have if you are under attack, and they shoot, not up in the air, which anyway would still be an atrocity when dealing with peaceful protesters, but with their guns at arm level, shooting into a crowd of people, shooting to kill.”

Sparks of gunfire taint the air. It is still unclear how many died. Those at the scene say that the Nigerian army took away some bodies, and prevented ambulances from getting in to help the injured. And that there was still shooting going on hours later, in the morning.”

 

Read the full article Chimamanda Adichie wrote on Newyork Times HERE.

 

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