#EndSARs Testimonies from Nigeria

 

Hey Readers,

Welcome back to Life, Faith &Love, where I share YOUR stories. For the past couple of weeks I've been focused on testimonies from Africa. Africa is bleeding badly right now. Today's testimony comes from the well known country of Nigeria. The people of Nigeria have been suffering from police brutality. "End SARs is a decentralized social movement, and series of mass protests against police brutality in Nigeria. The slogan calls for the disbanding of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a notorious unit of the Nigerian Police with a long record of abuses." Today I will sharing two stories from BBC news. The testimony from this individual echoes the voices of several others that have also been impacted by SARs. 

"Earlier this month, Isiaka Jimoh was on his way to his mum's house. Police allegedly dispersed tear gas and bullets to those protesting on the street. He never made it home to his mom's. Eyewitness say he was shot by police. Police deny the claim. 

His parents, Raji and Ramata, are still coming to the news that their son, 21-year old electrician is gone. His Father speaks of him as a kid son. He loved peace, and as young as he was, he played a big-role in our family. His mother speaks of him as the son who would do anything she would ask of him. He used to love pampering her all the time. He played with her a lot. 

Isiaka has become one of the symbols of the EndSARs movement. With protestors demanding justice for his death."

"Irene Mbang's brother has been missing for over 13 years now. Andrew was arrested in his flat in 2007. His mother Patience went to police to bail him out, but she was told that he was transferred to court. But when she got there, they had no record of him. She searched different police stations and different prisons, but could not find her son. When she returns to where she was first arrested, officers denied all knowledge of him. The family has not seen him since. 

Irene shares: if your brother is dead, you bury them. You mourn them, over time you get to remember them, but this one, you don't know if he's dead or alive. It's almost like someone like this never existed, like he was never in your life. Andrew was the life of the house. He liked music, he liked sports, He was a Chelsea fan. The one that would come back and ask how everyone was doing. 

Irene's mom has spent years looking for Andrew. The memory still hunts her. She doesn't know how possibly she lost her right hand. It's only by God's grace that she didn't die, because each time she remembers, she has feeling of sickness inside of her. She doesn't know how God will use and judge police and SARs. They want justice.

After 13 years, Irene took to the streets and joined the protest against SARs. She marched in regards to justice for her brother. She states it's time for her to start asking the tough questions to figure out who took her brother. She believes if tables were turned if it was 13 years or even 20 years, Andrew would not stop looking for her."

Thank you so much readers for reading these stories. Again, I did not conduct these personnel interviews. Interviews were conducted by BBC news. My purpose with re-sharing these stories is to bring awareness to what's going on in Africa. 

Always keeping it real,

Titiana Ngongang

Life, Faith &Love

References:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-54706977

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