“Nigerian Government Behaved Like T€rrorists on 20-10-2020”— Aisha Yesufu Slams FG Over EndSARS Killings

Human rights activist and co-convener of the #BringBackOurGirls movement, Aisha Yesufu, has accused the Nigerian government of behaving like terrorists by killing its own citizens during the 2020 EndSARS protest.

Speaking on Arise TV’s Prime Time programme on Monday, monitored by Daily Post Nigeria, Yesufu reflected on the fifth anniversary of the Lekki Toll Gate massacre, where peaceful protesters were allegedly shot by security operatives.

“The protest didn’t die down; it was killed off. Guns were brought in. We saw military officers who should protect Nigerians turn their guns on citizens — young people reciting the national anthem and waving the flag,” she said with emotion.


Yesufu recounted a harrowing moment when gunfire erupted and a young man standing near her flinched — a memory she described as “heartbreaking and unforgettable.”

“It’s really so sad that the Nigerian government decided to behave like a terrorist government by killing its own citizens on 20-10-2020,” she said.

She lamented that the tragic event proved a painful truth — that in Nigeria, security agents can kill citizens and nothing will happen.

According to her, young Nigerians owned and organised the EndSARS protest peacefully, yet the government responded with brutal force instead of reform.

The remarks come as Nigerians nationwide hold memorials in honour of those who lost their lives in what remains one of the darkest days in the country’s democratic history.