By Libby George and Paul Carsten
LAGOS, Nov 30(Reuters) - At 7 a.m. on a recent Saturday,
Onomene Adene received a call from a man whose voice she did not
recognise.
The man said he knew her from church and asked for help
getting a package to their pastor. She agreed to meet him at a
bank near her home in the Nigerian city of Lagos.
But shortly after she arrived, according to Adene, three
trucks pulled up filled with police armed with rifles and tear
gas demanding that she take them to her brother. Terrified, she
complied.
"It was like they were coming for war," Adene, 34, recounted
days after the Nov. 7 incident, her hands shaking and her eyes
welling with tears.
Police detained 27-year old Eromosele Adene that morning at
his home, according to his sister and a bail application. Adene
said her brother took part in nationwide protests last month
against police brutality in the West African nation but hadn't
committed a crime.
Eromosele Adene is one of hundreds of demonstrators who have
been detained since the protests began in early October. A group
of lawyers providing legal aid to protesters said it has logged
more than 300 detentions nationwide of people they believe to be
innocent but that they expect the total to be higher. It added
that many of those individuals have been released. Lagos State -
home to sub-Saharan Africa's most populous city - said on Nov. 8
that it had released 253 people.
The roughly two weeks of demonstrations, which called for
abolishing a controversial police unit that has long been
accused of violent harassment, drew thousands into the streets
across Nigeria and grabbed world headlines in one of the largest
movements of popular resistance to face Africa's most populous
country in years.
The Nigerian government swiftly announced it would disband
the police unit, known as the Special Anti-Robbery Squad or
SARS, and ordered each state to set up judicial panels to
investigate police abuse accusations.
But interviews with 18 activists, lawyers representing
protesters and human rights advocates depict a pattern of
intimidation of those who took part in the protests. In addition
to detentions and the freezing of assets by the Central Bank,
those interviewed by Reuters said some protesters had received
threats or been subject to other harassment. They said further
that they suspect the authorities are responsible because they
bear the hallmarks of tactics used by authorities in the past.
Reuters was unable to confirm who was behind the threats.
The extent of the detentions of peaceful protesters and
intimidation tactics used have not previously been reported.
President Muhammadu Buhari, a military ruler in the 1980s
before being elected president in 2015, has appealed for
patience as the government attempts to meet protestors' demands.
Spokesmen for the president referred questions about the
protests to the military and the police.
Army spokesman Sagir Musa dismissed activists' fears that
they were being investigated, tracked or blocked from leaving
the country as "fake news."
A spokesman for Nigeria's federal police did not return
requests for comment. Police have said the protests resulted in
violence such as looting, arson, attacks and killings of -
including of policemen - and that they will deploy the “full
weight of the law and legitimate force (if necessary) in
preventing a reoccurrence.”
Police in early November said they had arrested more than
1,500 people. Protesters and government officials have said that
the people doing the looting and vandalism are not for the most
part the same people who mobilised against police brutality.
Lawyers for police said in court that Eromosele Adene would
be charged with criminal incitement, cyber stalking and
provoking a breach of public peace, but haven't filed charges.
Adene's lawyer said his client is innocent. Adene was released
on bail after more than 10 days of detention; he is due to
appear in court on Dec. 7.
DETENTIONS
Some people who participated in the protests - a movement
dominated by young people who came of age after the nation's
transition to democracy in 1999 - said they have been taken
aback by what they considered to be the repressive tactics of
the authorities. But some observers said the crackdown against
people associated with the demonstrations is reminiscent of the
violent repression and state surveillance that characterized the
country's decades of military rule.
"The government has basically served a notice that everyone
and anyone is fair game," said Ikemesit Effiong of Lagos-based
risk consultancy SBM Intelligence. "It's something Buhari did in
the 80s when he was the military head of state, and we are just
seeing that playbook being reprised in 2020.”
The protests - organized under the name #EndSARS - broke out
in early October after a video circulated allegedly showing
members of the SARS police unit shooting dead a man in Delta
state. The protests evolved to encompass discontent with
corruption, a floundering economy and double-digit inflation
that has stretched the ability of some families to even feed
themselves without taking on debt.
It began as a largely peaceful movement, drawing the backing
of business leaders and celebrities including musicians Kanye
West and Beyonce. But the protests turned violent. On Oct. 20
police and soldiers killed at least 12 people in two Lagos
neighbourhoods, including in the upmarket district of Lekki,
according to witnesses and rights group Amnesty International.
The army and police deny shooting protesters. In the following days, angry crowds set fire to police
stations and government offices. Looters raided shopping malls
and government food warehouses.
The lawyers providing legal aid and activists said some of
the protesters who have been detained have been released without
charge, while others face charges such as looting, arson or
disturbing the peace - allegations the lawyers contest.
Oluwatosin Adeniji, a 28-year-old journalist, said she was
documenting a protest on Nov. 6 in Abuja when police, firing
tear gas and live rounds, detained her along with five
protesters. Adeniji - who was released on bail and hasn't been
formally charged - had been engaged in journalism and did not do
anything wrong, according to her and her lawyer.
The police didn't respond to a request for comment on
Adeniji's detention.
A prominent lawyer who provided legal aid to protesters had
her passport seized at the airport when she tried to leave the
country on Nov. 1, but it was later returned. The lawyer said
when her passport was taken she was told her she was under
military investigation. Spokesmen for the Nigerian Immigration Service, the Interior
Ministry, the military, the president's office and security
services declined to comment about whether she was under
investigation.
THREATENING MESSAGES
Ten activists Reuters interviewed said they were aware of
protesters receiving threatening phone calls and messages or
being followed. Seven of them said they had personally received
threats, and one of those said they also believed they had been
under surveillance.
One text message reviewed by Reuters said the recipient
would “lose your life” if they did not post a message on social
media that the Lekki shooting did not happen, but would get 10
million naira (or about $26,000) if they did. The message came
from a number the recipient didn't recognize.
Reuters was unable to verify the other individual accounts.
Amnesty International also said it had heard from
protesters, activists and even their own staff of similar
messages, typically threatening punishment for what people have
said or done and visits by people believed to be working for
security services.
“We are aware of these things happening,” said Isa Sanusi,
spokesman for Amnesty International.
Amnesty's Sanusi and activists said the efforts were having
a chilling effect, forcing people into hiding or to leave the
country. Four of the activists Reuters interviewed said they
were in hiding and at least two others had left the country.
One of those who had left the country said he went to the
United States after friends in government warned him on Oct. 20
that security agents were tracking him for his involvement in
the protests.
“If you're a witness in a case against the government, you
cannot sleep in your house,” said the man, who asked to be
identified only by his first name, Akin.
"WE ARE VERY AFRAID"
Nigeria's Central Bank has said it froze the accounts of 20
people involved in the demonstrations. According to an Oct. 20
court filing, the central bank wanted the assets frozen while it
investigated whether there were links to terrorism financing.
Five of those who have had their accounts frozen denied
involvement in terrorism financing when contacted by Reuters.
Adewunmi Enoruwa, 30, who helped crowdfund journalists
investigating police violence, said the account of his company -
a public relations firm called Gatefield - was frozen on Oct. 15
– more than two weeks before the central bank obtained a court
order to do so on Nov. 4. He showed Reuters a letter from Access
Bank dated Oct. 26 citing a Central Bank directive as the reason
his account was frozen.
He said he vets donations and has no links with people or
organizations that could be considered terrorists.
The Central Bank and Access Bank did not respond to requests
for comment. Access Bank has publicly apologized to some
customers impacted by the freeze and said it was compelled to
comply with regulatory directives.
"We are very afraid," said Enoruwa.
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FACTBOX-Why are Nigerians protesting against police brutality?
storm': How Nigeria's peaceful police protests turned
violent ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>