I came online yesterday to tweet about the #SARSMUSTENDNOW protest in calabar & how well it went but I was overwhelmed by the news coming from Lagos & it just didn’t feel right.
I’ll speak about it now so people will know that proper policing is possible & we must demand for it:

A few minutes after we started our protest, the police blocked our way. Refused to let us go any further, refused to let us detour. They said they had orders from “The top”. We demanded for the top to come down & address us. Shortly after, the deputy commissioner of police came

He spoke to us. Said he couldn’t let us go any further because there were no guarantees that the protests would remain peaceful. Then the youth in calabar gave him a little demonstration of civil disobedience. We entered the main road and blocked traffic on both sides

“If we don’t move. Nobody moves” became the new chant. If you use teargas, people in traffic choke too. If you start shooting, you’re going to have to murder all of us. Then we told him if you want to ensure the protest remains peaceful; march with us. Do your job.

And that is exactly what they did. The police in calabar cleared traffic ahead of us and made sure traffic behind us didn’t disrupt us while we processed. We marched for over 5 hours & the DCP and his team stayed for the entirety helping to make sure nothing went wrong.

When we started blocking junctions, I feared that things would go ugly, but the police halted traffic for us. We sat on the Highway floors to protest. We parked our vehicles in the middle of the road and stood on them to protest. The police made sure nobody stopped us.

When we marched to the gate of the governors office, I feared things would go wrong. The police in calabar made sure we protested in peace. When dignitaries tried to drive out of the governor’s office & we blocked their convoy, I feared things would go wrong. The police let us be

From the governor’s office, we marched to the headquarters of the state CID. This is where I was most nervous. I tried to tell people to make sure not to enter the compound. Again, the police halted traffic for us and gave us room to protest.

Every junction, every road, market etc. We protested in peace. The DCP brought out his own money and sent for water for the protesters. This is what we experienced in calabar. So imagine coming online to see the clusterfuck in Lagos. I felt horrible.

The police are capable of doing their job when they want to. They just don’t want to. And that is why we must keep protesting. Their job is to serve us and by god we aren’t backing down until they do their jobs. They must.

To everyone marching all over Nigeria and the rest of the world. We go again and again and again until they hear us. #SARSMUSTENDNOW #EndPoliceBrutality

And it’s still fuck the police btw. Yesterday doesn’t erase the oppression, extortion and violence the youth of this state have suffered at their hands. They did what they did because they fear what’s coming. But it’s coming anyway. #SARSMUSTENDNOW #EndPoliceBrutality