A few celebrities, other organisers and victims of the EndSARS protest, will be holding a memorial rally/peaceful walk to mark the second anniversary at the Lekki Tollgate today, October 20, 2022.
This was made known in an event held in honour of the EndSARS protest yesterday. At the second anniversary, the leader of the Takeitback group, Ayoyinka Oni, spoke on the theme ‘ENDSARS justice now: Justice delayed is justice denied’. They called for justice and full compensation of victims of protest. They said they do not want a back door payment.
They demanded the release of all incarcerated over the protest and that they should be compensated for locking them up unjustly, compensation of wounded and killed victims/families.
They also demanded a public apology over the mess caused, amongst other things.
He noted that a peaceful walk will be held at the Toll Gate. It reads, “In Lagos, we will peacefully assemble at the Toll Gate to honour the dead, as we fight like hell for the living, and a better Nigeria. We recall that the police attacked the peaceful demonstration we organized to memorialize the 1st #EndSARS anniversary.
“We faced rains of teargas from the police, who harassed and arrested several members of our organizations and journalists for no just cause. Marching at the Tollgate to remember the dead is our fundamental right.”
An excerpt of his statement read, “As you would recall, the #EndSARS movement was a spontaneous rebellion of Nigerian youths who have borne the scars of illegal detentions; missing loved ones and extra-judicial murders of family members and friends by police, and the military-like repression by a supposedly democratic government.
“The protests were peaceful and forged a sense of oneness in the hearts and minds of Nigerians from all walks of life and ethno-regional backgrounds. We were armed only with our conscience and patriotism. The weapons we had were ideas, slogans and placards. People, who did not know each other before the protests stood together, sat together, marched together, ate together, sang together, prayed together and shared the hopes of a better Nigeria in their hearts and through their actions.
“As you would recall, we were violently attacked at different times during the almost three weeks of our glorious resistance by armed security personnel of the state, and vagabonds who were revealed to have been backed by agencies of the state, as captured in several videos circulated on social media. The vehicles of #EndSARS protesters were burnt in Abuja; and known thugs associated with the ruling party were unleashed on protesters in several states, including Lagos, Osun and Anambra. In Abuja, on the same day that the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, was banned, the police used water cannons against protesters, and would later fire volleys of teargas canisters… ”
Falz, Alex Unusual, others have shared a post about EndSARS second anniversary on their social media pages. Falz wrote, “We will never ever forget. See you tomorrow.”
