With protests against police brutality ongoing across Nigeria, Afrobeats star Davido has told NME there’s much more at stake in his country than just reforming law enforcement.
“It’s about a lot of things now,” Davido said. “The government just has to do better.”
Davido was speaking before the events of October 20, during which Amnesty International confirmed that the Nigerian army and police killed at least 12 peaceful protesters in Lagos. The #ENDSARS protests initially began on October 5, after a young man in Ughelli was shot and killed by officers from Nigeria’s Special Anti-Robbery Squad, known as SARS. It was not an isolated incident. During the last three years, Amnesty International has recorded 82 cases of torture, abuse, and extrajudicial executions conducted by SARS officers.
“It started because the country was just tired of this division of the police that was really aggressive towards citizens, even to the extent of killing them,” explained Davido. “Now, it’s even past #ENDSARS. The government just has to do better. It’s been hundreds of years of the same thing, and this generation is just tired.”
The Collected Works of Kevin EG Perry 