Former Senator representing Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani, has urged President Bola Tinubu to grant clemency to the EndSARS protesters who remain in custody, calling for their release and pardon.
Shehu Sani made this impassioned plea while delivering remarks at a dinner event in Abuja on Wednesday, held to commemorate the 2024 Democracy Day celebrations.
In October 2020, a nationwide protest movement swept across Nigeria, driven by young people demanding an end to the human rights abuses and brutality perpetrated by the since-disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) unit of the Nigerian police force.
Following the nationwide protests, numerous young people who were apprehended in various cities, including Lagos, Rivers, and Ibadan, continue to languish in detention, their fate still uncertain.
Sani in his reaction to the development, said the Nigerian youths who protested against the SARS took after Tinubu, who he recalled was at the forefront of the struggle for the return of democratic rule in the country.
“It is important that we bring attention to those who were not here in those days of struggle.
“Democracy wasn’t a gift given to us by the military. It wasn’t a lottery that we won. It was a product of struggle and sacrifice. There were people forced into exile, like the president and commander-in-chief of the armed forces and the likes of Wole Soyinka.
“There were people who were sent to prison like us. We are supposed to spend the first 15 years of our lives in prison, but by the magnanimity of God, we were out. There were many who were dead. This democracy is a product of struggle.
“The Academic Staff Union of Universities made sacrifices, and the media made sacrifices. The NUPENG, headed by the likes of Frank Kokori, made sacrifices, and the National Association of Nigerian Students made sacrifices.
“This democracy was a product of that struggle, a product of determination, and a product of sacrifices.
“Mr. President, you have a duty to succeed. If you succeed, we will share your glory because you came from the trenches, that period of struggle. Mr. President, if you fail, they would say those of you who fought for democracy have nothing new to offer to Nigeria.”
