It was the year 2020 when the Nigerian youths said, No more!

From Twitter Ng, to the streets of Lagos, and other states across the country, Nigerian youths took to the streets to protest against the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) police force unit, notorious for their brutality against young Nigerians.
Though this is not news, as the Nigerian youths have been called out severally for just being keypad lords without the nerve to actually initiate real change, so most of these allegations would usually die down till after a day or two of trending on social media, till next time when there is another gruesome story.

On the 3rd of October 2020, a Twitter user tweeted

“SARS just shot a young boy dead at Ughelli, Delta state as we speak. In front of Wetland hotels. They left him for dead on the roadside and drove away with the deceased Lexus jeep.”
- @AfricaOfficial2

This tweet seemed to be all the motivation needed as the hashtag #ENDSARS started trending, became a worldwide trend, and the likes of Jack, Twitter CEO lent his voice in support of the Nigerian youths.

Within a couple of days, they took the protest offline even as they continued to intensify their voices online. The level of organization and how protesters looked out for one another was quite impressive and like nothing, we had ever seen before. This level of organization and strategic movement, even without a clear leader brought a glimmer of hope, that, alas! The giant of Africa is now woke!
With still no identified leader, the campaign ran for two weeks with the youths mobilizing food, security, and everything needed to ensure protesters are safe, fed, and also their collective voices heard.
Nigerians in diaspora including the Hubsquares community joined the protests from different locations with interests from London, Canada, New York to name a few.

After a couple of days of the protest, and what seemed like the government caved and gave in to the demands, the Nigerian youths already had a clear demand which was tagged the “5for5”.

On the third week of the protest, 20th October 2020 to be precise, the Lekki toll gate which would pass as the protest HQ, and now identified as a dark landmark, the Nigerian Army allegedly opened fire on peaceful protesters.

A series of events have since happened, with the Nigerian government attributing the events of that night to fake news and the events that led up to it as irresponsible.

However, the aftermath of this peaceful protest will not be forgotten in a long time, by people who lost loved ones and individuals whose stores were looted by touts and hoodlums who hijacked the protests.

The damage done cannot be put into mare words, the Hubsquares community (a community of business local African business owners in the diaspora) have come together to raise funds for select businesses which will be directed to DANG to support the initiative, which we hope will restore hope to some of these businesses.
If you would like to make a kind donation towards this cause, kindly click here — https://gf.me/u/y6wu7f.

About Hubsquares

From tourists looking to have a taste of home to immigrants who need to recreate personal and authentic experiences that connect them to their roots, to people who are enthusiastic about Africa and all that the colorful continent has to offer;

Hubsquares connect Africans in the diaspora to other Africans and local African businesses and services near then ( #AfricansNearMe )
We are your ‘African stores’ directory, and we welcome you to find home on Hubsquares!

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