Annie Hoey (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I put on the record my agreement with my colleague, Senator Boyhan, on behalf of the Labour group in opposing the Order of Business with its five guillotines in 24 hours. I have only been here six months but it seems like a record, even for this House, so I reiterate that we will oppose the Order of Business on that basis.

I am thinking of all the many Nigerians living here in Ireland today. They are in all our communities. #EndSARS is a movement against police brutality in Nigeria and for an end to the special anti-robbery squad, SARS. SARS is a controversial unit of the Nigerian police force. The dissolution of SARS was announced over the weekend, to be replacement by SWAT - same thing, different acronym. There is an outcry over this entirely unwelcome replacement of the very body the people of Nigeria are protesting against. The international community is watching with dismay the fury and outcry on the part of the people of Nigeria and the extremely heavy-handed approach the Government of Nigeria is taking against these protestors. My heart goes out to the victims of the shootings in Lekki, where people were peacefully protesting around the toll gate and were fired upon.

What is happening in Nigeria is reprehensible, and the international community must not be silent. There is enormous energy going into disrupting the protestors rather than engaging with them and meeting the demands of these people. The demands include the immediate release of all arrested protestors, justice for the deceased victims of police brutality, appropriate compensation, and an independent body to oversee the investigation and prosecution of all reports of police violence.

This is about more than just SARS. It is about ending police brutality and about better implementation of laws, better leadership and more accountability. I request that the Minister for Foreign Affairs condemn how the people of Nigeria are being treated. Peaceful protestors are being gunned down, and this is reprehensible. I hope this House will join me in condemning this senseless violence and that it will support the promotion of peace in Nigeria.