ENDSARS

In 2001, there was a National strike that 
led to schools shut down.
I was in the University of Ibadan at the 
time, when I left school, I went to 
Cute Guest House Agbowo at about 
11 AM, some friends of mine (Laide, 
the Barman) Lateef a student of 
the Polythecnic Ibadan (Saki Campus), 
Sunday Akinloye (A student of UNAD), 
Kamoru, A student of the Polythecnic 
Ibadan, Saki Campus all joined me 
at the Guest house within an hour.
They were also coming straight from 
their schools
We didn't plan to meet there
We just did because 
students usually hang out there
I was drinking beer and they 
joined me
We had drunk some bottles when 
Kamoru, (He is Lateef's friend from 
school and that was the first day i 
was meeting him started talking 
about how he heard the announcement 
of the strike and how useless the govt 
was.
He said he was smoking a particular 
weed when one of his friends told him 
they had to pack up and return home 
the next morning because NLC had 
called for a national strike.
We all laughed (I had tried smoking 
marijuana before several times but i 
usually end up with a blocked 
nose and headache. 
It just wasn't my thing. 
Secondly, i disliked the fact that we 
cannot smoke whatever it was in 
the open. 
I was 21 years old at the time and 
the concept of dodging to do anything 
was appalling to me, so I usually 
abstain from Marijuana and the likes. 
I was a  cigarette smoker though and 
I drank all sorts of alcoholic drinks, 
sometimes I got drunk and vomited 
(I like being transparent about how I 
used to be, there is no point pretending)
Within a minute, Kamoru had produced 
the unfinished Marijuana from his pocket 
and also brought some 
unrolled weed and rizzla (The stuff 
marijuana is rolled with from his bag)
The discussion went from "How I 
heard about the strike" to "Let's go 
and smoke"
I was not an active participant in 
the discussion
Left to me, drinking and smoking 
cigarettes was okay but these are 
my guys 
So I drank up and decided to follow 
them to a "Dagba" that's what we call 
the spot where marijuana is smoked 
(I don't know why they call it that)
Laide, the barman had lighter and he 
was a very good marijuana roller
He was pursuing his admission into 
The Polytechnic Ibadan as a 
part-time student at the time
Sunday Akinloye decided he wasn't 
going (That guy was older and wiser 
than all of us. He tasted marijuana 
only once and stopped)
Myself, Laide, Lateef, Kamoru and 
one other guy, I think his name was 
Kinglsley (He joined us while we 
were talking, he was a student of 
the University of Ibadan) set out to 
and smoke the weed
When we got to the gate of the hotel, 
my phone rang
It was my mother
She sounded as if she was dying
"Olaolu (Thats the name she calls 
me) where are you, Yeeeeeh, 
oooooooooh, aaaaaaaaaaah, come 
home now, I am dying, i dont know 
what has happened to me. 
Where are you? 
Come now?"
My mother is a quiet, long-suffering 
Christian (The CAC trained prayer 
warrior kind)
She does not throw tantrums and 
she had no time for drama
I was very alarmed
Our flat was about ten minutes walk 
from the Guest House
I excused myself from the smoking 
expedition and raced home
I got home in about five minutes
I found my mother perfectly okay, 
singing hymns with her glasses on 
her nose
It was so off and I got angry
"Mummy, why did you call me?"
"Because I wanted you to come home" 
replied my mother
I shook my head, dropped my school bag, 
changed my clothes and left the house
I was very angry she pulled such a prank 
on me
I wasn't a child
What if I was schooling abroad or in 
another city
I felt it was because my school was 
thirty minutes walk from home 
I was just acting my age...
When i got back to Cute Guest House, 
I saw a crowd
I saw a Police Van
It was not unusual for police guys to 
do raids around Agbowo and Orogun 
community
I had escaped being arrested several 
times because I was always with my 
student Identity card but... 
As soon as I got closer to the crowd, 
I saw what they were all starring at
Dead bodies
The police officers were taking pictures 
of the dead bodies
They placed AK-47 on the chest of 
the dead bodies and were taking pictures 
of these guys as if they were hardened 
criminals
It was confusing
The dead bodies were the bodies of
Lateef, Kingsley and Kamoru
The guys I was going to smoke with some
minutes before then
They had bullet holes all over their lifeless
bodies and blood everywhere
What happened?
My body was shaking
Death, cold death, is a horrible 
orientation changer
I heard a whisper behind me
It was Laide, the barman
He said as soon as they got to Dagba 
where they used to smoke behind the 
Guest House, they were gunned down
wow!
"How did you escape?" I asked Laide
Laide said a customer arrived
So he told the guys to go ahead so that 
he can attend to the customer
When he was done, he left the guest 
house to join them when he heard 
gunshots and ran for his life
Hmm 
These guys were coming straight from 
school
They didn't have any weapon on them
When the police officers were done 
framing them up, they loaded up their 
dead bodies into the van and drove 
away
Lateef's family members (especially his 
younger brother) led protesters to the 
Guest house
It was gathered that the landlord 
association had written to invite the 
police to the community while we were 
in school for security reasons
A lot of regrets and tears flowed 
everywhere
My mother's phone call saved me 
from untimely death
As I observe the #EndSARS protests 
I remember these guys
Long dead and long gone
I know there are ills in our society 
that needed correcting,
there are laws that needed enforcing 
and there are criminals that had 
turned crime into a lifestyle
#SARSCRIMESAGAINSTHUMANITY 
is real
#sarsbrutality is real
#EndSarsNow is 
a dream I also share
I know some criminals are also 
pushing for #EndSARS
but the majority of those advocating 
for it are innocent citizens who had 
become victims of SARS
I had been harassed on Victoria Island 
on a Sunday afternoon with my family 
in our car before
The officer kept saying he will take 
me to SURA
I had no idea where that was
My wife had to use her press Identity 
card to get them out of our car where 
they jumped-in to the agony of my 
little boys at the time
A lot of criminals are in police uniform 
and the more the government wallowed in 
corruption, the bolder they became.
A lot of these police officers are abusing 
drugs, alcohol and other substances
I was at Paulson Hotel some years ago 
when a SARS officer shot and killed a 
set of twins on their birthday
He also shot and killed himself
I suspected the guy was 
suffering from PTSD due to his engagement 
in the insurgency at the time
(I covered the incident as a journalist)
Some are clamoring for Police reform
#EndSARSImmediately
I am saying we can have a better Nigeria
A nation led in righteousness and justice.

PS: I never made friends with anyone
who smoked Marijuana after that day
I stopped going out in the night unless
it is absolutely necessary and I always
kept my identity card with me
I also pray a lot (I became a born again
Christian in 2007) and I had been
walking with the Holy Spirit since that
time
The police shouldn't have the power
to kill and maim citizens at will...
I have met many people who were
robbed by SARS at gunpoint and 
sometimes driven to the ATM to 
withdraw money for them under
duress
The Nigerian police shouldn't be 
the enemy of the people
I have seen too many broken destinies 
at the hand of SARS and the Nigerian
Police
It is time to get the fox out of the sheep
pen!
#ENDSARSNOW