Feminist Coalition, one of the groups that has been a front-liner in the fight against police brutality in Nigeria, has urged #EndSARS protesters to stay indoors and observe the curfew in their respective states.
The not-for-profit organisation has greatly helped in organising crowd funding platforms as well as the disbursements of funds and essentials aids to protesters across the country.
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Feminist Coalition, through donations, raised over #147 million which it has used to purchase medical supplies, provide legal aid, food, relief and other necessary supplies for #EndSARS protests.
Following the call for the discontinuation of the protests by President Muhammadu Buhari in a nationwide address on Thursday and curfews imposed by state governors, the group released in a statement via its official Twitter page to address protesters.
Feminist Coalition, which has been in the habit of giving account for funds disbursed, stated that it would stop accepting donations.
It stated that the rest of the money raised will go towards funding medical emergencies, legal aid for wrongfully detained protesters, and relief for victims of police brutality and families of the deceased.
Feminist Coalition also encouraged young Nigerians to “stay safe and stay home” saying its priority is the welfare bad safety of Nigerian youth.
Its statement reads;
The Feminist Coalition condemns every form of violence and believes that no Nigerian life is worth losing to senseless violence. We are young Nigerians with hopes, dreams and aspirations for our country. This means we need to stay alive to pursue our dreams to build the future.
The past two weeks have been tough for many Nigerians, most especially the last two days. Many lives have been lost and properties destroyed at the height of what started as peaceful marches for the end to police brutality. The Feminist Coalition condoles with every Nigerian mother, father, son, daughter who has lost a loved one in these trying times. These Nigerians share the same vision for a better country as we all do and should be duly recognized as heroes.
We are merchants of hope. Our priority is always the welfare and safety of the Nigerian youth. Following the President’s address, we hereby encourage all young Nigerians to stay safe, stay home, and observe the mandated curfew in your state. The Feminist Coalition has made a decision to henceforth stop all donation inflows for the #EndSARS peaceful protest. The rest of the donations will go towards funding medical emergencies, legal aid for wrongfully detained citizens, and relief for victims of police brutality and families of the deceased.
Human rights group Amnesty International says at least 12 people were killed in the shooting. However, Federal Government officials say there were no casualties.
Two days after the incident, President Muhammadu Buhari addressed the nation in a speech that conspicuously made no mention of the Lekki shootings and warned the youths to put an end to further demonstrations.
Meanwhile, Feminist Coalition has given a summary of the total funds it had received and disbursed over the past 14 days.
The group said it received a total of N14,855,788.28 and a total of N60,403,235.00 had been disbursed, leaving a total of N87,452,553.28.
Feminist Coalition also gave a breakdown of how the remaining funds would be disbursed. It said the remaining funds would be channeled through #EndSARSresponse (Medical), Legal Aid Network, Relief for victims of police brutality and families of the deceased, Memorial for the fallen, and #EndSARSMentalHealthSupport.
