Opening up & shutting down – protests in Nigeria
I confess having been outside Nigeria for the last year I’ve not really kept up with all that’s been going on, but just as many of Nigeria’s states are finally re-opening schools, the country is seeing a local equivalent to the BLM/Police brutality protests.
We thank God that these protests seem to have been largely peaceful, though gathering a large group of people to protest and keeping it peaceful must be a major challenge. It is worth praying for Nigeria.
There has often been considerable brutality and abuse of power. Removing the Special Anti-Robbery Squad on its own probably won’t solve the problems.
For the record, while we’ve had our moments, I have to say Nigerian Police (and others manning checkpoints) have often been cheerful, positive and professional – giving us a much better impression than the police in another country where we stayed for 2 years! On our first visit as a couple to Nigeria it really seemed like the Police and everyone had been on a PR/tourism course.
It’s a broken world we live in, but those who follow Jesus should keep remembering that he died to save it, is really reigning now and will put all wrongs to right and call all to account in the end. As Jim Harries has pointed out, his death is the only one that has truly dealt with the world’s problems. But it’s not quite over yet.
Practically these protests make entering and travelling through and working in Nigeria a little tricky, so it would be helpful if government is able to act decisively so that the protesting doesn’t need to go on too long.
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