AUSTIN FAIR, Lagos
Nigeria’s music star and internationally-acclaimed performer popularly known as Wizkid, visibly shook the precincts of the Nigerian High Commission in London on Sunday when he addressed the mammoth crowd that gathered there to continue with the protests against the existence of the Special Anti-robbery Squad (SARS) with words of encouragement.
Forget if an aide of the Nigerian president recently dubbed him a ‘’dumbkid’’ for kicking against the rising and excessive policies of the government against the masses, the pop star was highly applauded and hailed as he spoke, first revealing the news of the Inspector-General of Police dissolution of the vexatious squad and backing it up with a vow to pursue it to a logical conclusion.
The protests against SARS which has spread across the country and some major cities of the world, is of course continuing despite the announced dissolution.
On Monday veteran Nollywood actress, Hilda Dokuba who spoke on behalf of the protesters that occupied the Lekki/Epe Road in Lagos, stated that they want to see the practicability of the said dissolution in place before they can back down. In her words, ‘’this is not the first time we are hearing about the scrapping of the unit and the situation remains the same.’’
In his London address, Wizkid who is in the Queensland for undisclosed reasons, further added that the campaign against bad governance was yielding fruits. Another protester revealed that he has been arrested for about five times in Lagos for owning a laptop, a phone and wearing earrings, whereas he is a young entrepreneur engaged in showbiz related activities.
A lot of people drawn from the showbiz industry whose members form the bulk of SARS victims are in the forefront of the campaign. Nobody knows what the police authorities intend to do next albeit there have been reports of teargassing of protesters in some areas.
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