“Voices as Weapons” #EndSARS: Responses of Nigerian protesters to police brutality on Facebook

This study investigated protests surrounding police brutality within Africa’s most populous and “Black” country, Nigeria. Due to profiling, torture, and victimization of innocent, civilian citizens by some officers of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), the present study examined how Nigerian protesters communicated about and responded to the #ENDSARS protest. A purposive sample of Facebook posts (N = 160) were analyzed using constant comparative analysis. Findings revealed that Nigerian protesters communicated about #ENDSARS as a a) fight against societal ills, and b) call for action. Also, Nigerians protesters’ responses toward #ENDSARS protest were emotional and behavioral in nature. The implications of these findings are discussed as they pertain to generational identity (i.e., a struggle for recognition by youths— a generation who refuse to remain silent despite injustice meted on them because of their age) and the use of narratives, imageries, and emojis to trigger emotional response and support in online protests. Key Words: Police Brutality; #ENDSARS; Generational Identity; Social Media; Nigerian Youths About the Author *Doris Ehi Acheme (Ph. D., University of Oklahoma) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Georgia, Caldwell Hall, Athens, Georgia, United States of America Her research examines how identity impacts psycho-social responses during intergroup interactions. JCMR Journal of Communication and Media Research, Vol. 17, No. 1, April 2025, pp. 91-104. © Association of Media and Communication Researchers of Nigeria (AMCRON). Article Citation Acheme, D. E. (2025). “Voices as Weapons” #EndSARS: Responses of Nigerian protesters to police brutality on Facebook. Journal of Communication and Media Research, 17 (1): 91-104. Full Article Words: 8,247 Pages: 14 To access full article, click on download.