By Ayo Kehinde
The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria has lent its weight to the youths protesting against police brutality in Nigeria and demanding for meaningful reforms that would see the total scrapping of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS and its reincarnation as Special Weapons and Tactical Team SWAT, arrest and prosecution of indicted policemen and women, payment of compensation to victims, welfare for and retraining of policemen.
In a statement signed by President and Archbishop of Benin-city, Most Rev Augusting Obiora Akubeze, CBCN, said, “#End SARS goes beyond SARS and it is morally justified. We support the youths who have taken this step and we caution that they are allowed without intimidation to exercise their right to peaceful demonstration and should not be provoked or incited to violence.”
“The CBCN joins in calling for an end to every form of brutality and oppression as this degrades the image of God in us. The SARS and system that enabled the SARS to grow into a Frankenstein monster must end. Now is the time for the Federal Government to move beyond tokenism and institute reforms that would guarantee justice and lasting peace in Nigeria.”
The CBCN, which said the protesting youths are “simply calling for justice not for themselves but for the entire nation so that Nigeria can have peace,” noted that after days of following the protest spread nation, “this shows that most Nigerians are facing the brutality and oppression inflicted by the SARS.”
It said the #End SARS protest is a microcosm of the fundamental problems in Nigeria, knocked the immediate official reaction by replacing SARS with SWAT as “knee jerk reaction… and either portrays and absence of an understanding of the problem or lack of sincerity to solve the problem.”
Continuing, the statement reads; “We reiterate that he restructuring of this country is a desirable step to be towed given the various developments in this nation… the youths want a Nigeria where there will be education without industrial strikes.
“They want “a Nigeria society where the child of nobody can become somebody without knowing somebody”. They want a Nigeria where knowledge and skills will meet gainful employment. This cry as for a Nigeria where they are not threated as second class citizens but accorded equal opportunities to realize their potentials rather than being profiled as criminals by those who are supposed to protest them.”
