Though Episodic: The Retrospective-Prospective Nigeria's EndSARS Protest Anniversaries and Its Peculiarities

Introduction

The Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), an entity established within the Nigerian police in 1992, has entrenched itself within a disquieting narrative of unchecked authority, where allegations of wanton abuse of power, including but not confined to torture and coercive interrogation tactics, have become recurrent motifs in its modus operandi (Uwalaka, 2023). Instances of victimisation attributed to the SARS have transcended the confines of localised occurrences, permeating the collective consciousness through the amplifying mechanisms of contemporary media platforms, most notably social media channels, thereby precipitating an upsurge of public indignation and outcry (Dambo et al., 2022). Despite purported commitments from Nigerian governmental entities to redress the systemic maladies plaguing the SARS and effectuate positive reforms, the unit has persisted in perpetrating a litany of human rights abuses, ranging from extortion to acts of sexual violence, torture and even extrajudicial killings (Agbo, 2021). A critical point in this protracted saga unfolded on 3 October 2020, with the circulation of a video capturing SARS purportedly shooting a young man, Joshua Ambrose, in Delta State, Nigeria (Amnesty International, 2021). This visual image, underscored by an audio narrative documenting the fatal altercation and subsequent appropriation of the victim's vehicle by the SARS personnel, catalysed public mobilisation, precipitating demonstrations across Nigeria's urban landscape as throngs of impassioned youth convened in major streets and highways to voice their dissent and demand justice. During the evening of 20 October 2020, as demonstrators gathered peacefully at the Lekki Tollgate in Lagos, reports suggest that the government deployed military forces to disperse them, employing live ammunition and resulting in the deaths of numerous protesters (Agbo, 2021; Amnesty International, 2021). This date has since been commemorated as the EndSARS anniversary.

For me, participating in the EndSARS protest in October 2020 constituted a deeply impactful and transformative encounter that left a profound personal impression and was a pivotal impetus for scholarly investigation into the subject matter. Within the expanding scholarly inquiry, a burgeoning corpus of academic literature (Dambo et al., 2022; Obia, 2025; Udenze et al., 2024) has emerged, comprising diverse thematic strands dissecting the nuances of the EndSARS movement. However, a discernible lacuna persists within the scholarly discourse, particularly regarding the scant attention devoted to the exploration of the movement from the perspective of memory studies, which constitutes a crucial domain within the broader field of social movement studies (Daphi and Zamponi, 2019; Merill and Lindgren, 2020; Smit, 2020). Besides, this study expands the EndSARS literature through the lens of its continuing anniversaries for three years after the protest's peak in October 2020. Moreover, the paucity of studies incorporating digital ethnography as a methodological prism to highlight the online dimensions of socio-political mobilisation represents a notable lacuna in the extant literature.

This gap underscores a critical juncture wherein the convergence of digital activism (Rahbari, 2022; Smit, 2020) and the mnemonic facets of collective memory (Daphi and Zamponi, 2019; della Porta, 2024) within the context of the EndSARS movement remains inadequately examined, necessitating scholarly scrutiny to unravel the intricacies of digital protest landscapes. Consequently, this research endeavours to unravel the modalities through which Instagram was leveraged by research participants as conduits for socio-political mobilisation in the three anniversaries of the EndSARS protest, encapsulating a study poised to unravel the multi-faceted dimensions of contemporary digital activism. The central research question is, what are the peculiarities in the first, second, and third anniversaries of the EndSARS movement? To answer this question, I employed the interpretive lens in carrying out digital ethnography on Instagram during the protest's first, second, and third anniversaries. Additionally, I conducted face-to-face interviews with eleven purposively selected protesters. The findings of this study outline peculiarities in the three anniversaries of the EndSARS movement. Further, I argue that the anniversaries are episodic (Poell, 2020); in other words, they are demonstrative and attention-catching, or what Delicath and Deluca (2003) describe as an image-event. Interestingly, the narratives in the anniversaries encompass repositories of collective memory, encompassing both retrospective reflections (where we are coming from) on past experiences and prospective (things that are yet to be accomplished) considerations of unresolved challenges. Before this, I must discuss the conceptualisation of anniversaries as dual phenomena encompassing both memorialisation and protest.

Anniversaries as Memorialisation and Protest

For the majority, “anniversary” typically invokes a more individual and private significance, such as a birthday, rather than a broad public observance. My focus is not on anniversaries ingrained in the collective memory of entire communities, particularly those of broader or national scope. This is not to imply that these types of anniversaries lack personal significance. On the contrary, the existence of anniversaries spanning from intimate and individual to societal and collective activities underscores their cultural significance. These commemorative practices can potentially render the collective past personally meaningful. In the case of the EndSARS protest anniversary, for those participating in it, the commemorative activities connect to their individual life stories. The fact that the EndSARS protest anniversaries were both physical (mainly at the Lekki Tollgate) and spatial across different social media platforms validated the ceremonies. This dual presence simultaneously infused renewed significance into the movement and, by extension, the Lekki Tollgate through their enactment.

While some may consider the Lekki Tollgate an aesthetically pleasing infrastructure contributing to governmental revenue, the commemorative events and associated activities in 2021, 2022, and 2023 transformed the Lekki Tollgate and Instagram into sacred spaces imbued with the manifestation of envisioned futures. As Wagoner and Brescó (2022) note, memorial sites transform and encapsulate poignant experiences, encompassing grief, loss, and trauma, within a tangible and spatially defined symbol. The anniversary activities transcended mere nostalgic reminiscence for those actively involved, symbolising renewed occupation.

White (2019) asserts that anniversaries exemplify employing commemorative practices to disrupt and redefine the trajectory of national history. These events, however, deviate significantly from the conventional national anniversaries routinely incorporated into the annual calendar of federal or regional holidays. These juxtapositions are instrumental in examining the sociocultural dynamics of anniversaries, conceiving them as dynamic events inherently bound by temporal contexts, thus mirroring fluctuations in the contemporary interpretation of historical occurrences. The predicament faced by widely recognised and prominently celebrated national anniversaries such as Independence Day lies in the inherent routinisation, which can often signify a diminution of personal significance for individuals and communities that may perceive limited connections to these commemorative events. As scholars (Erll and Nünning, 2010; Ezeani, 2023; Subotić, 2019) in the field of memory and movement studies have observed, routinisation poses a challenge to the process of remembering and, more precisely, to the preservation of emotional significance. Besides, recurring anniversaries such as Independence Day, integrated into the calendars of nations, serve as opportunities for holidays and commercial activities rather than fostering a culture of historical contemplation (White, 2019). Further, specific constituencies often experience a distinct sense of connection during any commemorative anniversary. In the context of the EndSARS anniversary, it was predominantly the young people who participated in the 20 October 2020 protest. Interestingly, the commemoration of the EndSARS anniversary happens every October 20, and the Nigerian government observes its independence from the British on the 1st of October. The correlation between these seemingly disparate forms of anniversaries exemplifies the reasons and orientations which informed the different anniversaries.

In serving as platforms for commemorative practices, anniversaries serve as a mechanism for publicly indicating which aspects of history hold significance or are expected to hold significance for those actively participating in the events. For instance, conventional war anniversaries often transmute individual deaths into a celebration, portraying the fallen as heroes who made sacrifices for their nation. The act of remembering is intricately intertwined with selective forgetting (Wagoner and Brescó, 2022), as some events and aspects of remembered occurrences that diverge from the social framework of memory are omitted (Halbwachs, 1925). Illustratively, despite the extensive efforts invested in memorialising those who perished in World War I and II, the millions who were left incapacitated by the wars were largely overlooked (Connerton, 2009). Therefore, anniversaries serve as memorial sites for communal spaces of shared memory that offer diverse avenues for expressing and interpreting individual and collective losses. This transformative process extends beyond mere mourning; it allows individuals and societies to reinterpret the past, consequently facilitating the construction of new perspectives for the future (Wagoner, 2017). Viewed through this lens, moments of anniversaries and the emphasis they garner in commemorative events and media channels gauge the extent and profoundness of community engagement – a dynamic map that evolves as the elements considered significant in the anniversary undergo changes and transformations. The role of anniversaries as instrumental tools in shaping collective perceptions and sentiments towards events is significant (White, 2019). Instead of viewing anniversaries primarily as occasions for “remembering” (the predominant framing of this concept), it is more apt that we consider them as enactments of the present – performances carried out by individuals who perceive the relevance of historical events to their contemporary lives, as in the context of the EndSARS anniversaries.

Methods

Utilising Pink et al.'s (2016) methodologically unbounded and flexibly adaptable approach, digital ethnography, augmented by my reflexive positioning as an insider within the EndSARS movement, I embarked on an extensive online participant observation on the Instagram page of eleven purposively selected research participants in October 2021, 2022, and 2023. The eleven participants were chosen primarily due to their longstanding advocacy for the EndSARS movement, predating its widespread momentum in 2020. Additionally, they have actively engaged with protest-related Instagram content for over seven years. Instagram was chosen for this study due to its distinctive emphasis on images and visual storytelling, both of which may have significantly shaped the prominence of the EndSARS protest on the platform. While Twitter has been widely studied as the primary digital hub of the movement (Bello et al., 2023; Dambo et al., 2022; Obia, 2025), Instagram remains comparatively underexplored in the literature, making it a critical site for further investigation. I engaged in online participatory observation from the 1st of October through the month's end in each of the study years, keeping field notes in my journal. In other words, the digital ethnography lasted for ninety-three days.

These ninety-three days of digital ethnography on Instagram were complemented by face-to-face interviews with the same participants, thus fostering an understanding of their lived experiences and social dynamics within the movement. I employed the purposive sampling technique to select the research participants, an approach designed to enrich this study's qualitative information power (Malterud et al., 2016) and highlight the nuances of the participants’ experiences. Notably, four research participants (protesters like myself) were initially acquainted with me during the almost fourteen days of the street protest in October 2020 in Abuja. Leveraging this pre-existing connection, these four protesters assisted me with recruiting an additional seven participants who were protesters in different states, namely Lagos and Anambra. All the participants from these three states (Abuja, Lagos, and Anambra) are ordinary protesters. Furthermore, it is pertinent to mention that the above states were prominent sites of the EndSARS protest. It also ensures a diversified representation of perspectives and experiences. These eleven research participants actively engaged in the EndSARS street protest in October 2020 and the anniversaries within their respective states and on Instagram.

The interviews were administered in person within the aforementioned geographical locations. The physical face-to-face interviews facilitated a nuanced exploration of the participants’ experiences and perspectives within the context of the protest, thereby enhancing the depth and authenticity of the data collected. The interviews lasted an average of fifty-five minutes. I transcribed the interviews into text using Buzz, a Nigerian-made software that easily captured the Nigerian accent. The dataset (the journal field notes and the interviews) was analysed through NVivo 12 desktop software. I anchored the data analysis in the methodological framework of Braun and Clarke's (2021) reflexive thematic analysis with an epistemological lens steeped in reflexivity, whereby my insider experience of the protest shaped the outcome of the analysis. This iterative approach engendered a multi-faceted exploration of the research subject, transcending the superficial and probing the intricacies of digital interactions and socio-cultural dynamics manifested on Instagram and offline with the research participants and me.

Results and Discussion

The findings overall demonstrate the peculiarities and drivers in the first, second, and third anniversaries of the EndSARS movement. Also, given the visuality of Instagram, the results indicate that the anniversaries are episodic, focusing on demonstrations and attention-catching events and tend to fuel the 24-h news cycle. Nonetheless, the narratives exemplify a dual retrospective and prospective collective memory. Based on analysing the data, I organised the findings and discussion into four themes: EndSARS first anniversary: “We will never forget” – collective mourning; Sociopolitical challenges, the Obidient movement in the second EndSARS anniversary; The protest anniversary waned – the third commemoration; The episodic EndSARS anniversaries.

EndSARS First Anniversary: “We Will Never Forget” – Collective Mourning

The commemoration of the first anniversary of the EndSARS movement witnessed a remarkable surge in the active involvement of young people. Social media, specifically Instagram, emerged as a powerful and unifying tool, serving as a dynamic platform for expression, organisation, and the dissemination of information. Notably, this digital space allowed for amplifying the movement's core message, ensuring that the voices of the youth resonated far beyond physical boundaries. A key focus during this anniversary was the collective mourning for the protesters who tragically lost their lives in the shocking incident at the Lekki Tollgate. The embodiment of memory and historical consciousness through symbolic gestures and commemorative rituals during the first anniversary of the EndSARS protests indicates the enduring legacy of resistance and resilience within Nigerian society. By constantly converging at the Lekki Tollgate, as the digital ethnographic data indicate, erecting makeshift memorials, and engaging in collective acts of remembrance, participants imbued the protests with a profound sense of historical continuity, invoking the memory of past struggles while simultaneously advocating for transformative change in the present. The participants affirmed that the Lekki Tollgate drives the EndSARS movement. For instance, participant 7 wrote on their Instagram page: “The sanctity of Lekki Tollgate has spurred me to advocate for an end to police brutality.” Another participant (3) narrates during the interview: “I am experiencing hardship and suffering brutality from the police. I was there in 2020 when they shot at us, and I went to the Tollgate in 2021 … it is an important place for the struggle for a better Nigeria.” The foregoing assertion corroborates Wagoner and Brescó's (2022) argument that memorial sites such as the Lekki Tollgate transmute and embody profound experiences, integrating grief and hope into a concrete and spatially delineated symbol. Further, the experiences of the participants indicate that while the EndSARS protest is a collective movement unified by a common cause, the anniversary of the protest resonates on a personal level for each participant. This suggests that participants have experiences and emotional connections to the event, reflecting personal impacts that go beyond the shared goals and collective actions of the protest. It highlights the dual nature of social movements, where collective action and individual experiences coexist and interweave.

As stated earlier, this memorialisation effort, especially at the Lekki Tollgate, paid homage to those who had become symbols of resilience and courage and reignited the passion and determination reminiscent of the initial protests in October 2020. The emotional weight of this collective mourning further fuelled the movement's commitment to justice and police reform. This result corroborates Uwalakàs (2021) study of the EndSARS first anniversary on Facebook and Nairaland, which the author argues focused on remembrance and honouring the deceased of the Lekki Tollgate shooting. It is safe to say that the topic of collective mourning at the Lekki Tollgate dominated the first anniversary because the incident of 20 October 2020 is still fresh in the minds of the protesters. This result further resonates with Aguilar et al. (2024), who argue that protests are fuelled by everyday challenges, a spirit of camaraderie, and a collective commitment that sparks outrage against a shared issue.

Moreover, utilising digital platforms such as Instagram further augmented the scope of embodied communication, facilitating the dissemination of visual narratives, emotive imagery, and performative acts to a global audience.

A famous slogan during the first anniversary of the EndSARS is “We will never forget.” This phrase is often used in social movements and tragic events to convey a commitment to remembering and commemorating a particular event, injustice, or tragedy that has occurred (Davidjants and Tiidenberg, 2022). It serves as a rallying cry to ensure that the memory of significant moments or losses remains alive within the collective consciousness of the movement's participants and supporters (Merill, 2019). In the context of EndSARS, “We will never forget” symbolises the movement's cause, such as acts of police brutality, and precisely the shooting at Lekki Tollgate on 20 October 2020. I elaborate further on this phrase in the last thematic discussion below. On Instagram, there were images of the Nigerian flag, besmirched with the stain of blood, which serves as a symbol encapsulating the profound sadness of the prevailing circumstances within the nation, reflective of the tragic loss of countless lives, not only at the Lekki Tollgate but in the hands of rogue police officers. The field notes from the online participant observation indicate that the above image was prominent on the Instagram pages of the participants on the first anniversary, and it was repeatedly referred to in the interviews. The prominence of this image underscores the significant implications of Instagram's visuality in advancing socio-political causes. Moreover, it further aligns with Castells’ (2015) conceptual framework of the networked society, where social actors harness the expansive reach and connectivity of social media as strategic avenues for contesting and subverting entrenched power hierarchies. This alignment not only underscores the potency of digital platforms in reshaping discourse and mobilising social movements but also highlights the evolving dynamics of power and resistance in contemporary socio-political landscapes. Nonetheless, I recognise that Instagram's algorithms may have influenced the visibility, prominence, and curation of the images in this study, a dimension that was not considered in this research.

It is crucial to underscore that the first anniversary was also a retrospective reflection on past events and a strategic reiteration of the movement's fundamental demands. As the first anniversary of the EndSARS movement unfolded, it became evident that the legacy of October 2020 persisted in the collective consciousness of the participants. The engagement on Instagram, the commemorative efforts at the Lekki Tollgate, and the commitment to police reform all contributed to a narrative beyond the confines of a specific date. The first anniversary stood as a testament to the enduring spirit of the EndSARS movement and its ongoing impact on the discourse surrounding justice, accountability, and societal change in Nigeria.

Conclusion

This research explored three anniversaries – 2021, 2022, and 2023 of the EndSARS movement, shedding light on their distinctive characteristics and critical and interconnected themes. The first anniversary, occurring in the immediate aftermath of the alleged shooting of protesters, was primarily characterised by collective mourning and a strong call for police reform. The second anniversary reflected a heightened political consciousness and underscored the necessity of electing leaders accountable to the populace, giving rise to the Obidient movement. In contrast, the third anniversary marked a decline in protest activities, mainly shaped by the outcomes of the 2023 presidential election. The anniversaries are strong markers of retrospective and prospective reflections on Nigeria's unresolved socio-political challenges. The parallel retrospective (“where we came from”) and prospective (addressing unresolved challenges) facets of collective memory underscore the resonance of the EndSARS movement. This enduring resonance reinforces the movement's historical significance and underscores the persistent and evolving nature of the socio-political issues it seeks to address. Nonetheless, I argue that the protest anniversaries are episodic. The anniversaries emphasised attention-grabbing demonstrations, which directed it to the attention of the conventional media, thereby fuelling the 24-h news cycle and exclusives. Further, Instagram's visual and performative characteristics also contribute to the episodic nature of the EndSARS anniversaries. The findings suggest significant implications. It highlights how demonstrative and performative strategies, while effective at garnering attention, made the EndSARS anniversaries episodic events, thus limiting continued engagement with the core issues. It indicates how contemporary movements, like historical protests, rely on traditional media strategies to increase exposure; however, this emphasis on episodic protest strategy might hinder sustained activism and institutional change. Despite these challenges, the anniversaries serve as essential archives of collective memory and they also shaped the public memory of the movement. However, this study did not explore how Instagram's algorithms might have shaped the narratives I was exposed to. Nonetheless, through my digital ethnographic and interview data, I found that the anniversaries are strong markers of retrospective and prospective reflections on Nigeria's unresolved socio-political challenges. Consequently, future studies might build on these findings by integrating methodologies that unravel the complex interdependencies between human actors and technological infrastructures within the context of the EndSARS protest.