Nigerians light candles for late victims of Police Brutality in #EndSARS Vigil

Thousands of Nigerians gathered on Sunday for a vigil to remember those who have lost their lives at the hands of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) — a police unit accused of brutality and human rights abuse.

The vigils also called ‘Festival of Lights’ held at the Lekki Toll Gate and Alausa venues of the protests in Lagos while protesters in Abuja, Bayelsa, and Port Harcourt also honoured those who have met their deaths from illegal police killings. Protesters all lighted candles in honour of the many departed souls.

Prayers were also dedicated to the souls of the departed victims at the various venues of the protest.

At one of the Lagos venues, an installed projector beamed videos of police brutality in Nigeria while a group of protesters in Abuja mounted a microphone to read out horrible tales of how some of these victims lost their lives.

Perhaps the most chilling of these stories was the story of Chijioke Iloanya, a 20-year-old boy who is still missing eight years after he was arrested by police in Anambra State.

To make the story more horrible, Obianjuju recalled that Nwafor (a notorious police officer accused of brutality and human rights violations) made her father swim in a river filled with corpses while in search of Iloanya who is still missing till today.

Nwafor, until recently, had been working with a Nigerian State Governor, Willie Obiano, who has forced to sack the former police officer and make him available for arrest and prosecution for his alleged crimes.

The vigil across the country is another way protesters are bringing attention to police brutality in Nigeria.

Although the #EndSARS protests started to call for the end of the SARS unit of the Nigerian Police, the demands of the protesters have increased as they now seek a complete reform of the Nigerian police.

The Inspector-General of Police has disbanded the SARS unit but the protesters want more actions including the arrests and prosecution of officers who have unjustly killed innocent Nigerians.