#ENDSARS: The Stories Behind the Nigerian Protests

"I would prefer to be attacked by armed robbers than to encounter SARS officers.” –  Abdul Abdulkareem

Abdul Abdulkareem encountered officers of Nigeria’s Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS) a month ago in Lagos. He and two friends were on their way home around Idi-Araba, Surulere when officers turned up in a minibus and arrested them. “It was around 10 pm, I stopped at a store opposite my house with two friends to pick up bread for breakfast the next morning,” he told me. “The officers appeared out of nowhere and dragged us into their van without telling us what our offence was,” he added.

The officers took them, along with twelve others, to Area D police station in Mushin and threw them into a cell. “On our way to the police station, the officers kept picking up random people and throwing them into the van. Anyone that asked questions got