This project aimed to visually narrate the EndSars protest movement that unfolded in Nigeria from October 8th to 20th, 2020. This movement emerged as a powerful response to the acts of violence perpetrated by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, a specialized unit of the Nigerian Police Force established in 1992 to combat crime (Amnesty International, 2020).
Despite a long history of oppression and violent acts by this unit, the catalyst for the protests came on October 4th with a tragic incident in Ughelli, Delta State. This spurred the demonstrators to hit the streets nationwide on October 8, to advocate for justice and change(Iwuoha & Aniche, 2021).
Utilizing the power of social media, four major hashtags—#EndSARS, #EndCorruption, #EndBadGovernance, and #EndInsecurity—became the virtual rallying points. These hashtags not only organized protest locations daily but also served as a vital means to garner support, be it financial or otherwise(Iwuoha & Aniche, 2021).
The map serves three key purposes:
Spotlighting Protest Locations: It map highlights four states – Lagos State , Oyo State, Rivers State, Edo State – and the Federal capital Territory (FCT) where resistance to the movement was particularly strong.
Lagos: The Epicenter: In the second map, Lagos state takes center stage as the various protest locations are highlighted, to illustrate the proximity between these gathering points and adjacent police stations.
Tweet statistics: Here, the relative number of tweets and retweets by activists who played a pivotal role in the movement’s organisation are shown, organised by the four main hashtags.
References
Iwuoha, V. C., & Aniche, E. T. (2021). Protests and blood on the streets: repressive state, police brutality and #EndSARS protest in Nigeria. Security Journal, 35(4), 1102–1124. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41284-021-00316-z
What is the #EndSARS movement? – Amnesty International Australia %. (2020, November 11). Amnesty International Australia. https://www.amnesty.org.au/what-is-the-endsars-movement/
Acharya, J. (2023, July 31). Download Nigeria Administrative Boundary Shapefiles – States, Local Government Areas, Wards and more –. https://www.igismap.com/download-nigeria-shapefile-free-administrative-boundary-state-city-map/. Accessed November 2023
GRID3. (n.d.-c). [ESRI Shapefile].https://grid3.gov.ng/dataset/lagos-state-administrative-boundaries/resources. Accessed November 2023
GRID3. (n.d.-d).[ESRI Shapefile]. https://grid3.gov.ng/dataset/lagos-road/resources. Accessed November 2023
GRID3. (n.d.-e).[ESRI Shapefile]. https://grid3.gov.ng/dataset/lagos-police-stations/resources. Accessed November 2023
