The #EndSARS movement, which erupted in October 2020, was a defining moment for Nigerian youth demanding an end to police brutality. But as the dust settles, a deeper crisis emerges: state neglect. Shehu’s poetic sequence on the Mokwa flood (poems 31–37) captures this tension, linking infrastructure decay to political inertia.
In one harrowing account, residents recall hearing gunshots before chaos erupted. “Everyone scampered for safety,” a witness said. Moments later, Usman was found unconscious—a stark reminder of the violence that sparked the protests. Meanwhile, Olalekan Falaye, like thousands of others, joined the peaceful demonstrations on October 20, 2020, only to face a government crackdown.
The flood poems weave these threads together: a nation where protests for justice are met with bullets, and communities are left to drown in neglect. As Nigeria grapples with the aftermath, the #EndSARS dashboards serve as a digital memorial—tracking both police accountability and the slow erosion of public trust.
