Five Years After EndSARS, Nigerians Urged To Light Candles In Memory Of Fallen Protesters

As Nigeria marks five years since the 2020 EndSARS protests, a coalition known as Concerned Nigerians has called on citizens across the country and in the diaspora to light candles in honour of those who lost their lives during and after the demonstrations against police brutality.

In a statement titled “#EndSARSCandleLight: Light a Candle in Honour of EndSARS Martyrs,” the group said the tribute is aimed at remembering “our fallen brothers and sisters who were forcibly sent to their untimely deaths by the Nigerian security forces and hired thugs across Nigeria during and after the 2020 EndSARS protests.”

According to the statement, the victims “died not only to end police brutality and reform the Nigerian police but also in the hope that Nigeria would become a country where politicians care deeply about the people and show as much in their policies and actions.”

Reflecting on the events of October 2020, the group noted that the past five years have been marked by continued injustice and worsening repression. “We have had five years to reflect on the 2020 EndSARS protests and remember the pain and trauma that the Nigerian State under Buhari’s regime inflicted on all of us,” the group said. “In that period, our cruel and visionless rulers have not stopped persecuting and punishing Nigerians, and police brutality in our country has only gotten worse.”

Despite these challenges, Concerned Nigerians emphasised the importance of sustaining the memory of those who died. “We owe a duty to our comrades who were wickedly killed during #EndSARS to continue to honour their courage and sacrifice,” the statement added.

The group urged Nigerians to take part in a nationwide candlelight observance, encouraging citizens to light a candle “within their homes or at any other location of their choosing in honour of our fallen brothers and sisters for at least an hour.”

This symbolic action, the group said, “is a way of upholding our collective responsibility to preserve the significance of October 20 and remember the fatal sacrifice of the EndSARS martyrs in 2020, not just in Lekki, but everywhere else in Nigeria.”

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