Over a hundred African writers say justice must be served for victims of police brutality. 

At an #EndSARS protest in Abuja. 

As African writers across borders, we denounce in the strongest terms the tyrannical and shameful persecution of innocent Nigerians by officers of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigeria Police Force and the continued harassment of peaceful protesters in the country.

We note that, as Chinua Achebe said, “We cannot trample on the humanity of others without devaluing our own.” Nigerian authorities and the police have devalued themselves by keeping SARS in effect for as long as they have. This cannot be undone by merely disbanding, dissolving or otherwise rebranding SARS as SWAT, while still intimidating Nigerians who are exercising their rights to peaceful protest.

The list of innocent Nigerians who have been harassed, falsely imprisoned, tortured and extrajudicially murdered by SARS operatives is as long as the absence of justice for these victims is resounding. We note that reform of the police and policing system in Nigeria will not be complete without justice for victims of SARS brutality and the arrest, dismissal and prosecution of police officers found culpable of crimes against the people.

We, therefore, condemn the continued determination of the Nigeria Police Force to shield officers indicted in flagrant acts of brutality by either promoting them or redeploying them away from places where their reprehensible acts of cruelty have drawn public ire, or by replacing the label on SARS with SWAT.

Because the dead cannot cry out for justice, it is our duty, as the living and as writers and humans, to demand it for them. And so we stand firm to demand that every officer of SARS and the Nigeria Police Force in general who commits acts of brutality against our innocent brothers and sisters in Nigeria be subjected to an independent judicial inquiry.

We condemn the continued police harassment, arrest, detention and torture of peaceful protesters against police brutality as well as the empowerment and deployment of undesirable elements and sponsored thugs to attack protesters in Lagos, Abuja and Kano and other parts of the country by parties acting on behalf of the Nigerian state. 

We note the threat by the Nigerian military to unleash its habitual terror on protesters and condemn this in the strongest terms. These protests are peaceful and are expressions of the fundamental rights of Nigerians, who should not be threatened by the military, the police or thugs while they go about the peaceable expression of their constitutional rights. 

We strongly believe that the Nigerian military might serve public interest best if deployed against Boko Haram and bandits terrorizing the country, not against unarmed civilians exercising their rights.

We ask that the government of Nigeria, under President Muhammadu Buhari, take concrete measures, beyond the flippant rhetoric of years gone by, and immediately reform the police, the Nigeria Police Force as a whole. We insist that forthwith policing practices in the country be carried out with openness and transparency.

We will not condone further abuse of the fundamental rights of our sisters and brothers in Nigeria and elsewhere on the continent by security personnel who are sworn to serve and protect them.

We stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters protesting on the streets of Nigeria, and ask that every right-thinking member of the global community raise their voice and support the agitation for justice for the victims of police brutality in Nigeria, the immediate termination of such inexcusable conduct by all units of the police and a sincere and tangible reform of the police in Nigeria.

#EndSARS

Signed by:

1. Chris Abani
2. Leila Aboulela
3. Kelvin Adantchede
4. Ayobami Adebayo
5. Leye Adenle
6. Ama Ata Aidoo
7. Bisi Adjapon
8. José Eduardo Agualusa
9. Dami Ajayi
10. Kofi Akpabli
11. Richard Ali
12. Abdulkareeem Baba Aminu
13. Lesley Nneka Arimah
14. Sefi Atta
15. Ayesha Harruna Attah
16. Biyi Bandele
17. Asiedu Benneh
18. TJ Benson
19. Oyinkan Brathwaite
20. Nana Brew-Hammond
21. Noviolet Bulawayo
22. Jessemusse Cacinda
23. Panashe Chigumadzi
24. Tsitsi Dangarembga
25. Tolu Daniel
26. Phillippa  Yaa de Villiers
27. Dilman Dila
28. Raoul Djimeli
29. Renee Edwige Dro
30. Amatoritsero Ede
31. Ainehi Edoro
32. Chike Frankie Edozien
33. Victor Ehikhamenor
34. Chinelo Enemuo
35. Kalaf Epalanga
36. Virgilia Ferrão
37. Laurence Gnaro
38. Jonuel Gonçalves
39. Helon Habila
40. Abubakar Adam Ibrahim
41. Emmanuel Iduma
42. Arinze Ifeakandu
43. Eghosa Imasuen
44. Eugénio  Inocêncio
45. Tade Ipadeola
46. Nozizwe Cynthia Jele
47. Mubanga Kalimamukwento 
48. Mali Kambandu
49. Toni Kan
50. Tamanda  Kanjaye
51. Parsalelo Kantai
52. Precious Kemigisha
53. Yejide Kilanko
54. Peter Kimani
55. Kinna Likimani
56. Rumbidzai Makanga
57. Angela Makholwa
58. Jennifer Makumbi
59. Napo Masheane
60. Mohale Mashigo
61. Lebogang Mashile
62. Makanaka Mavengere
63. Ngwatilo Mawiyoo
64. Zakes Mda
65. Howard Meh-Buh Maximus
66. Maaza Mengiste
67. Niq Mhlongo 
68. Yamikani Mlangiza
69. Lerato Mogoathle 
70. Yara Monteiro
71. William Ifeanyi Moore
72. Nastio  Mosquito
73. Merdi Mukore
74. Richard Ali Mutu
75. Njabulo  Ndebele
76. Okey Ndibe
77. Beverley Nambozo Nsengiyunva 
78. Remy Ngamije
79. Kagayi Ngobi
80. Mukoma wa Ngugi
81. Chibuihe Obi
82. Chigozie Obioma
83. Obari Gomba
84. Obinna Ochem
85. Rene Odanga
86. Damilola Olagunju
87. Ukamaka Olisakwe
88. Natasha Omokhodion-Banda
89. Ondjaki
90. Troy Onyango
91. Tochi Onyebuchi
92. Chibundu Onuzo
93. Romeo Oriogun
94. Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor
95. Alice Palmira
96. Nii Ayikwei Parkes
97. Djamila Ribeiro
98. Muhammad-Tahir Sanuth
99. Taiye Selasi
100. Elma Shaw
101. Lola Shoneyin
102. Holder Simbad
103. Samantha Steele
104. Veronique Tadjo
105. Novuyo Rosa Tshuma
106. Kola Tubosun
107. Telma Tvon 
108. Hilda Twongyeirwe
109. Obinna Udenwe
110. Uche  Peter Umez
111. Chika Unigwe
112. Uzor Maxim Uzoatu
113. Kenechi Uzor
114. Zukiswa Wanner
115. Molara Wood