From #EndSARS to #FreeNnamdiKanu: The Cry for Justice Lives On

Five years ago, on October 20, 2020, the Lekki Toll Gate became a mirror reflecting Nigeria’s painful truth. Peaceful young Nigerians who only asked to live without fear were met with gunfire. That night, the nation’s conscience trembled. The #EndSARS protest was not a rebellion. It was a plea for justice, dignity, and humanity in a country that too often forgets its own children.

Today, another cry echoes across the streets with the call to #FreeNnamdiKanu. The faces have changed, but the struggle is familiar. It is still about fairness, accountability, and respect for the rule of law. Whether one agrees or disagrees with his politics, the question remains: why does justice in Nigeria depend on who you are, not on what is right? When the state uses silence and force to settle civic demands, it repeats the mistakes of its past.

We, the Youth Wing of the African Democratic Congress, refuse to forget. We stand for justice without bias, reform without pretence, and leadership grounded in empathy. Our generation will not surrender its voice to fear or its future to corruption. We remember Lekki, and we see the same patterns today. Unanswered questions, unhealed wounds, and unkept promises continue to test our democracy.

The government owes the people truth. It must release all who are unjustly detained, including Nnamdi Kanu, and show that no citizen is beyond the reach or protection of the law. It must honour the memory of #EndSARS victims not with words but with action through transparent policing, humane governance, and equal justice for all.

To forget is to betray. To remember is to rebuild. The youth of the ADC choose remembrance. We choose courage over silence and justice over fear. Nigeria belongs to all its citizens, and until every voice can speak freely, the promise of democracy remains unfinished.

Balarabe Rufai
National Youth Leader
African Democratic Congress (ADC)
20th October, 2025