On 20th October 2020, horror was struck across the Nigerian city, Lagos. A group of young Nigerians were peacefully protesting the #endSARS movement against police brutality when they were open fired at by uniformed men.
There is still controversy over how many were wounded or killed from the shootings. There has also been discussion over who carried out the shootings, as the Nigerian military has allegedly denied responsibility. One thing that was apparent whilst researching this incident, is the importance of social media and citizen journalism when bringing the truth to light in corrupt countries.
What is the #endSARS movement?
SARS stands for Special Anti-Robbery Squad and is a Nigerian police unit that was created in 1992. The #endSARS hashtag first went viral in 2017 after young Nigerian victims posted on social media reports and videos of kidnapping, harassment and extortion carried out by SARS.
Over the years, #endSARS has been in and out of trending throughout social media as there have been repeat incidents of upsetting scenes being caught on video. The scenes include SARS, and the Nigerian police as a whole, having beaten, tortured and even shot unarmed civilians.
Following a video going viral of yet another police shooting, young Nigerians took to the streets to peacefully protest. For two weeks, the protestors sat at the Lekki toll gates in a peaceful demonstration. On the night of 20th October, the streets lights and CCTV were reportedly cut and around 20 armed men closed in. The protesters sat and began singing Nigeria’s national anthem. This is reportedly when the shooting began.
News reporting of #endSARS
#EndSARS has been reported across a range of well-known news organisations.
Some wording within the initial reports could be conceived as blaming towards the protestors. The Independent begins their article (dated 21st October) with, “Protesters have defied a round-the-clock curfew to remain on the streets of Lagos as unrest continued in Nigeria’s largest city…” Beginning such a heart-breaking story by describing the peaceful protesters as defiant may well be taken in a biased way.
Similarly, the headline for the Guardian’s article (dated 21st October) is “Nigeria: protests continue despite curfew and president’s plea”. Again, this could be taken as inappropriate as it does not highlight the important issue of the shootings. However, both articles portrayed a balanced story of the event, including eye-witness accounts as well as quotes from officials.
Since these reports, both the Independent and Guardian have covered this story from an array of angles. The Guardian has offered news and opinion pieces and even featured a podcast about the fight to end SARS in their Today in Focus section. The Independent has published follow-up articles giving context to what SARS is and an update on the number of civilian killings during these protests. They have also released an article exposing the UK government as responsible for providing training and equipment to SARS officers.
The BBC released two articles on the incident on 21st October. One article tells the story from an objective, balanced view. Reporting the events of the incident and reactions from Nigerian authorities and others, such as celebrities and foreign politicians. This article also includes context to the #endSARS movement, including the graphic video below.
The second article that the BBC released on this date was written with a much more human, emotive voice. Taking the reader through the events from the night of the shooting and including key information on the lights and CCTV being cut off. This article also highlights the importance of the citizen journalism that was carried out that night:
“Witnesses believe the perpetrators did not want events recorded. But thanks to their smartphones, protesters were able to beam the incident to the world prompting outrage as scenes were also shared of the injured being treated in hospital.”
Nduka Orjinmo, BBC article – Nigeria SARS protests: Horror over shootings in Lagos
It could be argued that it is important for incidents like this to be captured by a human voice as the events are so emotive. Reporting in a way that does not highlight the atrocity of the killings, could be portrayed as cold and uncaring.
Social media and #endSARS
Coverage of the Lagos shootings shows an apparent issue of inconsistency. The government and officials of Nigeria have tried to minimise the atrocity of the shooting, the BBC report states, “The state governor said about 25 people had been wounded but only one person had died.” However, “Witnesses and the rights group Amnesty International said several people were killed and wounded when soldiers opened fire.”
The stories have also highlighted the importance that social media has played in the reporting of this incident. An article by the Guardian declared, “Graphic scenes posted on social media showed protesters fleeing the camp at the Lekki tollgate as security forces, including soldiers, shot live rounds towards the crowds.” The denial and non-transparency of the Nigerian officials begs the question, would the world have known the truth of these shootings if it were not for citizen journalism carried out through social media?
Raising awareness on social media
The #endSARS hashtag has been an effective way of spreading awareness of this movement. Facebook has predominantly been used by news organisations and ‘verified’ people to spread awareness. Instagram offers some information but a lot of this is lost amongst people using the hashtag within their selfies or promotional posts. However, this platform has been largely used by celebrities to spread awareness.
Twitter has been used very effectively. It is full of up to date information from people within Nigeria fighting for their cause and for their voices to be heard. There has been a number of accounts changing their names to include #endSARS. This platform has also been used as a way of voicing their calls for action, including financial donations, blood donations for the injured and to raise awareness through #endSARS.
This awareness through social media has caught the attention and gained the support from a number of celebrities, including Rihanna, Beyonce and Anthony Joshua.
Censorship within social media
Although social media is supposedly a platform of free speech, there are many reports of young Nigerian’s twitter accounts being frozen.
Social media often becomes a key part of political censorship and, perhaps, a reminder of the lack of control that we have over the information that we see.
Our hearts and prayers go out to the young Nigerians fighting for their rights. An article by the Independent has stated, “at least 51 civilians have been killed”. However, due to the lack of transparency within their government, the number is still unknown.
What can we do to help? Raise awareness through your social media. Help their voices be heard, #endSARS.
This article was written for my Digital Storytelling module in November 2020. We were tasked with writing a 1,000 word piece exploring the use of multiplatform journalism.
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