The aftermath of #EndSARS protest that rocked some parts of Nigeria in 2020 has continued to hurt some perceived actors according to findings.
The hashtag, named after the SARS police unit accused of abuses, has come to represent the movement against brutality and bad governance that swept across most cities in Nigeria.
Key figures of the leaderless movement have been pressured by the authorities and subjected to intimidation, harassment and smear campaigns, according to Amnesty International.
Lateef Adeyinka Agboola is one of those who has been badly brutalized by the police in Lagos over the role he played during the hashtag #EndSARS protest, making him to go underground.
Adding to his woes was the news that his parents died as a result of trauma and harassment from state actors seeking to arrest their son.
A source close to Agboola who confided on this medium alleged that “due to pressure from some armed men looking for him (Agboola) his daddy and mummy died from high blood pressure in May and June, 2021 respectively. .And also his two siblings are still missing and I am not sure if my friend is alive. “The source stated.
Another source in the neighborhood told our reporters that Lateef’s younger brother Malik Adeyinka and his younger sister Faridat Adeyinka gone missing in June after the death of their mother, Adeyinka Iwade.
He added that their dad, Raji Adeyinka died in May too.
Lateef Adeyinka had earlier in the year narrated his experience to the media, wherein he said that he was badly beaten and tortured by security operatives when he was caught at a protest venue in Lagos, stating that he is still very much afraid of being track down by the police as he has been receiving calls of threats by unknown people.
“I was picked up and beaten by security operatives when I came out to protest about police brutality. Before the protest I had fallen several times into what people were protesting against, I remember how some police operatives arrested me and they took my valuables from me when I could not offer them the money they wanted from me, so,when they arrested me at the venue of the protest I was badly dealt with and the fear still remains in me because I still receive calls of threats from people I don’t know” Lateef Adeyinka Agboola stated.
Most of the protesters involved are still living in fears over the trauma experienced during the protest in October 2020.
