The umbrella body of Catholic Bishops in Nigeria has endorsed the #endSARS protest against police brutality by youths in the country.
This was disclosed in a statement signed by the president Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria(CBCN), Augustine Akubeze, on Saturday.
According to the statement, “the Bishops gave full support of the ongoing action by Nigerian youths who are seeking an end to police brutality and general reform of the security system.”
CBCN said #EndSARS protest is a true representation of the problem in the country and is justified.
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“The Bishops said the youths are avowing their lawful right by demanding for justice and peace for all from “extra-judicial killings, unlawful arrests, profiling of youths as criminals, the invasion of youths’ privacy by searching phones and laptops without any warrant or any just cause, and the incarceration of many of the youths in the SARS custody without trial”.
“EndSARS goes beyond the SARS and it is morally justified. We support the youths who have taken this step and we caution that they are allowed without any intimidation to exercise their right to peaceful demonstration and should not be provoked or incited to violence,” CBCN said.
The statement condemned the setting up of Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) to replace the SARS unit which was notorious for human rights violations.
It said, “setting up a new outfit shows poor judgment on the part of the Federal Government”.
The bishops accused the government of “either not willing to allow peace and justice prevail, or totally lack understanding of the enormous problems at hand.”