#EndSARS Frontline Protester, Rinu Oduala Named Among 31 Women Creating Positive Change In Africa (Photos)
Rinu Oduala, a 22-year-old #EndSARS frontline protester, has been named among 31 women creating positive change in Africa.
The young lady was recognised by Global Group Media in partnership with NBC Washington.
Oni Aningo, Executive Director and Founder, Global Group Media and Creator, Rising Women Series, in a statement said;
Worldwide, more women have stepped up and into roles as Heads of Governments, Heads of State, and Parliamentarians. While government still needs to welcome more women, there are still plenty who are rising in many other sectors. In Africa in particular, we’re seeing plenty of high-profile women moving the continent forward.
In October 2020, protests broke out in Lagos State and different states in Nigeria against police brutality and high-handedness of now-disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) police unit.
The world saw Nigerian youths gather in demonstration towards one purpose – End Police Brutality – and during the course of the protest in Lagos State, Oduala better known on social media as Savvy Rinu was a frontline protesters.
The 22-year-old outspoken lady was among hundreds of young Nigerians that spearheaded protest in Alausa, Ikeja in Lagos state.
Read Also: Gridlock As EndSARS Protesters Block Lagos Highway (Photos)
Ms Oduala was one of the first to take to the streets after a video went viral of a man allegedly being killed by the notorious Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), sparking the protest.
Herself and other youths set up camp outside the Lagos governor’s office and Lagos state House of Assembly on different days in October, demanding the police unit be disbanded.
Read Also: EndSARS Protests: Comedian, Mr Macaroni, Others Spend Night Outside Lagos Assembly (photos/videos)
As a media strategist, she organised people on social media to join her and helped source for blankets and welfare packages for people who ended up sleeping outside the state government buildings for 72 hours before police attacked them.
With her 172,000 Twitter followers, she is one of several women who have shaken the Nigerian establishment to its core over the last six weeks. Her #EndSARS activism saw her Twitter account get the blue verified badge.
Today, she is part of a panel in Lagos sitting at a judicial inquiry into police abuse – one of the key demands of the protesters after the president disbanded the unit.
Unfortunately, Oduala is one of 20 protesters whose bank accounts were frozen by the Central Bank of Nigeria early November over their alleged role in promoting terrorism.
Read Also: Frozen Accounts: CBN Accuses 20 #EndSARS Protesters Of Terrorism
See some other Nigerian women included in the list below;
Morin Desalu, M.D., Riskwatch Insurance Brokers; Diane Okoko, Principal Partner, Marcus-Okoko & Co.; Hansatu Adegbite, Executive Director Women in Management and Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ); Ier Jonathan-Ichaver, Executive Director Sesor Empowerment Foundation; Priscilla Thorpe-Monclus, Board Member, Women In Energy Nigeria (WIEN); Hafsat Abiola, Founder, Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND).
Others are;
Olu Verheijen, Founder, BFA Foundation; Jennifer Obayuwana, Executive Director, Polo Luxury Group; Akaego Okoyo, Founder, African Business Stories LLC; Chizor Malize, Chief Executive Officer, Financial Institutions Training Centre; Etinosa Yvonne, Acclaimed Documentary Photographer; Stephanie Kalu-Uche, Founder and CEO, Stephanie Nicholas Beauty & Wellness and Omobolanle Victor-Laniyan, Access Bank, Head of Sustainability.
