Anti-police brutality protesters have emerged across the West African country last week calling for the government to end its controversial police unit called the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, known in the country as “SARS.”
Reuters reported that the protesters – which are comprised of many young people in the country – have been using social media to organize. The government announced on Saturday it would begin a two-month army exercise within the country but insisted the exercise has nothing to do with the protests.
The report said the army announced last Wednesday that it stands ready to “fully support the civil authority in whatever capacity to maintain law and order and deal with any situation decisively.”
The Wall Street Journal reported that tensions in Lagos have increased after packs of armed men beat protesters at various intersections across the city.
The SARS force has been accused by protesters of carrying out extrajudicial killings and extortion in the country, the WSJ reported. The protests started last week after a video emerged claiming to show police from the unit kill an unarmed man, the report said.
