It Is an Unforgivable Crime- Chimamanda on Lekki Tollgate Shooting

Award-winning Nigerian author and activist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, has described the shootings and killings of #EndSARS protesters at Lekki Tollgate as a “colossal and unforgivable crime.”

In a written article on  New York Times, she spoke about the horrific reign of the notorious Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and recounted the hostile experience her cousin had with the now-disbanded police unit.

“SARS officers once arrested my cousin at a beer parlor because he arrived driving a Mercedes. They accused him of being an armed robber, ignored the work ID cards he showed them, took him to a station where they threatened to photograph him next to a gun and claim he was a robber, unless he paid them a large sum of money,” she wrote.

“My cousin is one of the fortunate few who could pay an amount large enough for SARS; and who was released.”

The 43-year-old writer also addressed President Buhari‘s leadership. She said that there’s a feeling the country could burn to the ground under his leadership.

READ ALSO: Why #EndSARS Protest Will Continue -Falz

“The government of President Muhammadu Buhari has long been ineffectual, with a kind of willful indifference. Under his leadership, insecurity has worsened,” Chimamanda wrote.

“There is the sense that Nigeria could very well burn to the ground while the president remains malevolently aloof.

“The president has often telegraphed a contemptuous self-righteousness, as though engaging fully with Nigerians is beneath him. Twelve hours after soldiers shot peaceful protesters, Mr. Buhari still had not addressed the nation.”

She added that the federal government “has turned on its people. The only reason to shoot into a crowd of peaceful citizens is to terrorize: to kill some and make the others back down.”

“It is a colossal and unforgivable crime. The brazenness is chilling, that the state would murder its citizens, in such an obviously premeditated way, as though certain of the lack of consequences.”

Click here to read her full opinion piece.