Prominent Nigeria clerics have declared support for the ongoing youth protests against police brutality and excesses of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the force.
Nigerians across the world have in the past two weeks taken to streets and online to protest against police brutality, killings, extortion and harassment by SARS.
The protests, tagged #EndSARS, which have been staged in some major Nigerian towns and cities, began nearly two weeks ago with several protesters killed and many others injured.
Although the dreaded police unit was disbanded on Sunday and replaced with the new Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) on Tuesday, Nigerians have refused to end the protests.
Among clerics who have thrown their weight behind the protests are the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye, Presiding Bishop of the Living Faith Church aka Winners, Bishop David Oyedepo, Senior Pastor of Dunamis International Christian Centre, Dr Paul Enenche and Head Pastor of Omega Fire Ministries, Apostle Johnson Suleman.
Others are the Senior Pastors of The Citadel Global Community Church, Pastor Tunde Bakare, Daystar Christian Centre, Reverend Sam Adeyemi and the Household of God Eklesssia, Chris Okotie.
Catholic bishops have also backed the youths in the protest.
“Our daughters will not be able to prophesy and young men will not see visions if we don’t keep them alive. I support the youths in this peaceful protest as they ‘speak up’ to #EndPoliceBrutality #EndSARS #ENDSWAT,” Adeboye wrote on Twitter.
The revered pastor also shared a statement of solidarity issued by the assistant general overseer in-charge of administration and personnel, Johnson Odesola.
According to the statement, “The Redeemed Christian Church of God identifies with Nigerians presently protesting against police brutality and the abuse of power by the very institution established to protect them.
“The church declares its understanding and appreciation of the concerns and grievances of the youths and the generality of Nigerians and calls for an immediate end to police brutality in the country.”
Adeboye’s son, Leke, also joined other youths at the Lagos State Secretariat, Alausa, to protest against police brutality.
The junior Adeboye, on October 19, led the Christian Service at the protest ground in front of the Government House during which he said the protests signalled the beginning of a new Nigeria.
He said, “I want all of us to know that this nation has been handed over slowly but surely by this singular move that we are all here representing our families, friends and nation. This is the beginning of the New Nigeria.”
Presiding Bishop
Living Faith Church
Oyedepo, while delivering a sermon, at the church’s international headquarters, Canaan land, Ota, on October 18, said the youths had the right to express dissatisfaction with the state of the country.
Stating that he had kept mute on national issues before now, Oyedepo recounted that he forewarned the country in 2015 about the danger ahead of it.
“Every man has a right, legitimately so, to express their displeasure and pains,” Oyedepo said.
“I kept quiet for a while because in 2015 I warned this nation, vehemently, consistently, because I saw the dangers ahead and you can tell. The most gruesome season in the history of the nation is the last five years where lives have no value, wanton killings here and there.
“Now they have faced the youth and because they don’t know who is next, they have the right to say ‘enough is enough’. Any system that has no value for human lives is irrelevant. If they were killed when they were youths, would they be where they are today?
“It would be a sacrilege to shoot the protesters who are not looting, who are not ravaging.”
Leading a walk in Abuja in support of the youth protest, Enenche said the EndSARS protest, was a reflection of the ills plaguing Nigeria.
He asked the government to find an immediate solution to the protest.
Enenche, accompanied by his wife, Becky and other church members during the walk, said, “#EndSARS protest is a reaction to what is going on in Nigeria, particularly as regards to extrajudicial killings. For me, that is one aspect of monumental problems we have in our land.
“#EndSARS means end injustice, end oppression, end subjugation, end poverty, end hunger, end nepotism, bigotry; it means end every evil in the nation.
“We are doing that the same time because this time calls for aggressive spiritual intervention.
“I think that when people are pushed to the wall, they react, and that is what I think the youths are doing. It is not SARS but general wahala.
“I therefore call on the relevant authorities to find an immediate solution. Open your ears to what is happening and take action to arrest the situation immediately.
“It is not the time to play the ostrich. It is not the time to bully anybody. It is time to admit that something is wrong and something must be done and it must be done urgently.”
Adeyemi urged the youths to take advantage of the protests to secure fundamental change for Nigeria’s development.
He however asked the protesters to speak forcefully but avoid going violent.
“Rarely does a generation have the opportunity to lead change as the one handed the youths of Nigeria right now through #SARSMUSTEND. It cuts across the fault lines that divide Nigeria,” he said in a statement on his official Twitter page
“My dear young citizen, you must use this rare opportunity to secure deep changes that will lead to Nigeria’s development. The systems you confront are strategic and tactical. They may be steps ahead. You need to think long term and pace yourself.
“Speak forcefully but peacefully. Don’t be provoked to violence. Don’t act somebody else’s script. Lightning has enough power to light a city, but it destroys because it has no structure. Shift gear into participation in the political process when the time comes soon.
“The police officer causing you trauma is also dehumanised by the system. He is paid peanuts and forced to extort money to make his uniform, maintain operational vehicles and retire some to bosses. Fight for him and his children.
“The generation before yours had such an opportunity 26/27 years ago when the result of a free and fair election was annulled. The protests that ensued partly birthed the democracy we enjoy today. Remind elected leaders you’re only continuing the fight.
“Some of you will be governors, senators, president, CEOs, etc., in 10 to 20 years. Hold the vision of a developed Nigeria in your heart. Commit to value human life, be honest, promote justice, serve with excellence, and cultivate leadership skills. God will help you. #ENDSARS,” he ended.
In another tweet, Adeyemi condemned the killing of some protesters across the country.
‘‘It is totally unacceptable for the police to fire teargas at young citizens attending non-violent #ENDSARS protests. We cannot sustain the idea that the voice of the African youth is not to be heard. To our young citizens, please continue to speak,’’ Mr Adeyemi tweeted Sunday.
‘‘We are not going to be leaders tomorrow, we are leaders already. Leaders lead with vision and broad perspective. #ENDSARS is a beachhead. The war is bigger. Have a clear picture of a developed Nigeria. Push for a change in values and in the power equation.
“I appeal to leaders in government and the police force, please listen and respond. #ENDSARSNOW as a courageous commitment to change. When people are not heard, they raise their voices. This is a generational opportunity to move 200m people, mostly youths, to achieve development.”
Bakare, in a tweet, said “There is a threshold of decency below which no human being must fall, and I reject any status quo where citizens become disposable or the right to life becomes negotiable.”
Suleman said the youths were demanding for a just cause, which is to end SARS, adding that he stood with them.
He however demanded an executive order to back the disbandment of the police unit.
He led the church members to observed a moment of silence for people who were unjustly killed by SARS.
Suleman also canvassed the review of the cases involving all inmates currently in SARS cells.
He said, “All the inmates currently in SARS cells should have their cases reviewed…in as much as we are fighting for the ones killed, what about the ones in detention over trumped up charges, torture to admit under duress what they were innocent of. We need their cases reviewed.
“The Nigerian youth must have a future in Nigeria…I stand with them those meant to maintain law can’t be lawless…#EndSWAT,” he tweeted thereafter.
On their part, Nigerian Catholic bishops, under the aegis of Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria(CBCN), in a statement, said #EndSARS protests are a true representation of the problem in the country and was justified.
A statement by its president, Augustine Akubeze, said “the Bishops gave full support of the ongoing action by Nigerian youths who are seeking an end to police brutality and general reform of the security system.”
The statement said, “We the members of the CBCN have followed the protests with keen interest and call on the Federal Government of Nigeria once again to listen to the cry for justice so that peace can reign in our country. The protest seems to have a life of its own and it is spreading all over the country; this shows that most Nigerians are facing the same oppression and brutality inflicted by the SARS.
“We urge the Federal Government to fulfil its primary constitutional responsibility of securing life and property of every Nigerian and provide opportunities for our children to realise their God-given potentials.
“The audacity and impunity with which the SARS officials have been operating all the while is a manifestation of the failing State of Nigeria. Various bodies and patriotic Nigerians have expressed the opinion that just ending the SARS will not solve the enormous problems of Nigeria, because it is futile treating symptoms of a disease when the root cause is known”.
It further said, “The Bishops said the youths are avowing their lawful right by demanding for justice and peace for all from “extra-judicial killings, unlawful arrests, profiling of youths as criminals, the invasion of youths’ privacy by searching phones and laptops without any warrant or any just cause, and the incarceration of many of the youths in the SARS custody without trial”.
“EndSARS goes beyond the SARS and it is morally justified. We support the youths who have taken this step and we caution that they are allowed without any intimidation to exercise their right to peaceful demonstration and should not be provoked or incited to violence.”
The bishops also rejected the creation of SWAT, saying “setting up a new outfit shows poor judgment on the part of the Federal Government.”
They accused the government of “either not willing to allow peace and justice prevail, or totally lack understanding of the enormous problems at hand.”
Okotie, in a statement, said the protests have no political, tribal or religious motivation.
He said to put a political colouration to the protests is to “submit to the jejune partisan stimuli emanating from a reprehensible perennial insensitivity.”
He said what is happening is neither political, religious, ethnic nor even – terrestrial. Rather, it devolves from the Creator who endowed man as a free moral agent. He therefore arrogates to himself the title of emancipator in his quest to dismantle any mechanism of oppression or suppression of the human will. It is an extra-terrestrial phenomenon. It is a divine intervention to resuscitate the moribund kindred spirit of the Nigerian brotherhood.”
The protest in his words, “bears witness to a system that has elevated corruption to an institution of byzantine complexity. It bears witness to a system that has jettisoned their dreams and aspirations into the catacombs of oblivion.
While noting that the people “have risen against the forces of dissatisfaction, disillusionment and despondency from taking their souls in captive hopelessness, he said, “these young people are not rebellious dissidents. Rather they are emissaries of posterity. Galvanized by the indomitable spirit of the Nigerian psyche and the relentless cry of posterity, they have become veritable instruments in the hands of destiny to chart a realistic path for the Nigerian renaissance.”
Nigeria according to him is about to be reborn. “For indeed, change derives from a vertical impetus that translates into a horizontal movement or exodus. When the season comes the agitation becomes ubiquitous. And when the time comes the mandate becomes imperative.
“Untrained in the art of mob opposition, bereft of military discipline and partisan – fanaticism, they march on with their lungs filled with the breath of patriotic desire and their lips pregnant with nationalistic fire, hoping for a better tomorrow. They shun ethnicity, religion, the polarization of class distinction, and geopolitical sentiments.
“And as brothers and sisters in peaceful arms, they march towards the great goal of an emerging nation. They march as an unconscripted army bound by the commonality of being joint-heirs of our national patrimony.”
Okotie therefore asked President Muhammadu Buhari “to please be a father now and not a commander-in-chief and treat this matter with conciliatory disposition; let compassion mitigate the sterner resolutions of your political oversight.
“Your paternal superintendence must now over-ride every other consideration and engender a peaceful rapprochement. Please listen to the Nigerian Youth, no matter how discordant their voices may be.
“Let the heart of a father translate the pathos in their desperate exclamations and compel you to reassure them of your paternal commitment to securing them a great future.”