End SARS: Nigerian police ‘open fire on protesters’ in Lagos after 12 days of anti-police brutality demonstrations

They caught the world’s attention after celebrities, including Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, actor John Boyega and footballer Marcus Rashford, condemned brutality and corruption in Nigeria.

With thousands taking to the streets and blockading Lagos’s main road to the international airport, the marches have grown into a wider movement about poor governance and corruption.

Fifteen people are thought to have died as a result of the protests and anti-riot police were deployed this week after a police station was set on fire.

Initially, police responded with tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters – but later promised not to use force.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has offered a series of concessions in an attempt to quell the disturbances, pledging comprehensive reform and compensation to the victims of any brutality by officers.

The police announced that a new Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team would “fill the gaps arising from the dissolution of the defunct SARS”.