A young and vibrant Nigerian youth was allegedly shot dead by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) officials yesterday and it has got the internet buzzing.
Kolade Johnson, also known as Kaylow and Don Styles was said to have been shot dead shortly after making plans to send money for his young son’s upkeep.
Kolade was watching a Liverpool FC match yesterday on Olu Aboderin street in Onipetesi when SARS operatives appeared, reportedly to arrest a young man on dreadlocks. In the process, they began shooting indiscriminately and a stray bullet hit Kolade.
Celebrities and friends have taken to different social media platforms to mourn him with the hashtag #KLow while calling for an end to extrajudicial killings with the hashtag #EndSARS.
Kolade has been described as a friendly guy who lived life to the fullest. He was an only child of his parents and recently welcomed a child.
Adesua Etomi- Wellington and her husband, Bankole Wellington, popularly known as Banky W, took to their social media handles to seek justice for Kolade.
Embittered Adesua took to instagram and wrote:
I am SO SICK of the abuse of power by SARS.
I am SO SICK of a government that turns deaf ears to the cries of it’s people.
HOW MANY MORE PEOPLE HAVE TO DIE before something is done about this nonsense?
Every other day, we hear stories of how citizens are beaten, killed, robbed, kidnapped by SARS.
If a tree is producing rotten fruit, CUT IT DOWN.
This is Kolade. His only crime was watching football. That was all he was doing when a stray bullet hit him yesterday. A bullet fired by a SARS official. They fled the scene btw. So who do we hold responsible?
He has a son who now has to grow up without a father, all because some idiot was trigger happy.
#EndSars #justiceforkola #thishastostop
Her husband, some hours later, also took to instagram and called out both the Federal and State governments to do something about the SARS killings. he wrote;
This post is for our leaders: @muhammadubuhari@profosinbajo @akinwunmiambode & @jidesanwoolu… Dear Sirs, Kolade Johnson, an innocent young citizen of Nigeria is dead. He was the only son of a widow, a husband and father. His only crime was being in the right place at the wrong time… watching a football match when SARS operatives who allegedly came to arrest someone, started shooting sporadically. Kolade is not the first innocent victim of reckless behaviour by SARS operatives, and he will almost certainly not be the last. It is sickening, frustrating, and unfair.
We are tired of hearing about victims of police brutality, but never hearing about the criminal, reckless police officers being brought to justice. We are tired of screaming and tweeting #ENDSARS while our innocent young people are being extorted, bullied, maimed and killed by the very same officers who are meant to protect them. And we are tired of our leaders remaining silent, incident after incident.
We’re going to track down Kolade’s family, pray with them and raise money to assist them through this terrible tragedy. We hope that our leaders will use this opportunity to ACTUALLY show that they care about our lives and wellbeing, by tracking down the reckless officers responsible for this murder and bringing them to justice for their vicious crime.
We will not let this go. Kolade was innocent and did not deserve to die. Kolade could have been anyone of us. Please show us that you care about us. Please.
Posted by Yetunde Adegoke
