The revered #EndSARS movement against decades of police atrocities has been chosen as The Guardian Nigeria’s “Person of the Year” in 2020.

The Guardian’s editor-in-chief Martins Oloja said the historic youth-led campaign merited the award for unsettling the non-committal power elite through persistent agitation for a better Nigeria.

“And so for that significant testimony of awakening the sleepy and docile seats of power in the country to realise that poverty and hardship are national security threats; for shaking the table of the powerful ones without losing their mojo; for demonstrating through magnificent planning that we can be all leaders and followers of a common cause – to bring back our country; for showing the power elite what it is to be truly Nigerian; for showing that with proper understanding of the times through good leadership, Nigeria can indeed lead Africa and indeed the black race, the EndSARS Youth Movement is The Guardian’s Person of the Year 2020,” Mr. Oloja wrote on Tuesday.

In early October, thousands of young Nigerians thronged the streets nationwide to demand the scrapping of the now disbanded special anti-robbery squad of the country’s police, which was notorious for unrestrained corruption, excessive use of force and extrajudicial killings.

The young patriots were handed a major victory a week into the heightened demonstrations after the Inspector-General Muhammed Adamu announced immediate abolition of the brutal police squad.

The campaigners, nonetheless, persisted on the streets despite pockets of harassment by agents of state and pro-government thugs, as they pushed for a holistic reform of the Nigeria Police Force.

The protesters, who repeatedly emphasised the #EndSARS movement’s decentralised approach, also sought compensation for the families of SARS victims, as well as the institution of an independent body to probe all reports of police misconduct.

The movement reached its climax late October when troops of the Nigerian Army opened live rounds on unarmed protesters singing the national anthem at the Lekki Toll Plaza, killing scores of civilians.

The Buhari administration, which has yet to wield sanctions against the military top brass for the unwarranted shootings, had perceived the #EndSARS campaign — which shot into global prominence — as a coordinated attempt to force a regime change through the back door.

Acting on the purported regime change suspicion, the government clamped down on prominent voices of the historic campaign, blocking dozens of bank accounts linked to them while illegally imposing travel restrictions on many others. 

The International Criminal Court at the Hague has already commenced investigations into the controversial and frequently deadly tactics deployed by the Nigerian in quelling the protests.