Beginning 8 October 2020, Nigerians — led predominantly by Gen-Z, organised via Twitter and the Feminist Coalition — protested the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), notorious for extrajudicial killings and extortion. The Inspector-General dissolved SARS on 11 October. Protests continued, demanding broader reform. On the night of 20 October 2020 at the Lekki Toll Gate, soldiers fired on protesters. The Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry, in its 309-page report adopted October 2021, concluded the events met the definition of a massacre and named victims. The Federal Government rejected the report.
Civic PowerOctober 2020· Chapter 13
End SARS
October 2020. National protest against the Special Anti-Robbery Squad. 20 October at the Lekki Toll Gate. Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry, October 2021.
Source: Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry Report on the Lekki Incident Investigation (Nov 2021); Amnesty International
Era context
The political and economic reality
The government(s), economy and national reality across the period 2020–2021.
President · Fourth Republic
Muhammadu Buhari
2015–2023· APC
National reality
Two recessions (2016, 2020). Multiple naira devaluations. ASUU strike of 2022 closed federal universities for ~9 months. End SARS protests (Oct 2020); Lekki Toll Gate incident. Out-of-school children >18 million by 2022.
Crises of the period
- 2016 recession + FX crisis
- End SARS + Lekki Toll Gate (Oct 2020)
- COVID-19 lockdown (2020)
- 9-month ASUU strike (2022)
- Naira redesign chaos (Q1 2023)
GDP (World Bank)
$494 bn (2015) → $477 bn (2022)
Cabinet (selected portfolios)
- Finance
Kemi Adeosun (2015–18); Zainab Ahmed (2018–23)
- Justice (AGF)
Abubakar Malami (SAN)
- Education
Mallam Adamu Adamu (2015–23)
- Petroleum
Muhammadu Buhari (concurrent); Min. of State Ibe Kachikwu then Timipre Sylva
Source: Federal Gazette 2015–23; CBN; NBS
Methodology
Tier 1 · primary
Courts. Gazettes. National archives.
Tier 2 · corroborating
OCCRP. HRW. BudgIT. TheCable.
Redline
Wikipedia is never a source.