Following the reported death of Nigeria’s former President, Muhammadu Buhari, a storm of reactions has emerged from civil society and pro-democracy activists, with the Take It Back Movement (TIB) strongly condemning the former leader’s legacy as one marred by state brutality, repression, and widespread human rights violations.
In a statement by the National Coordinator of the Take It Back Movement, Juwon Sanyaolu, which he posted on his official Facebook page, he recounted chilling experiences of police brutality orchestrated under Buhari’s watch, especially during nationwide protests against bad governance and police impunity.
Sanyaolu shared a harrowing personal account of repeated arrests, physical torture, and degrading treatment at the hands of security operatives during Buhari’s tenure.
“In January 2021 at a protest, police arrested me, dumped me behind their truck, hand-chained me to the vehicle. When I challenged them, an officer slammed my head to the floor of the truck while another sprayed pepper spray directly into my eyes. It was horrifying — I would have died if I were asthmatic,” he said.
He further described another incident, barely a month later, during which he was stripped, bound, and mercilessly beaten with metal rods by police officers. According to him, he was later detained in inhumane conditions described as a “toilet-turned-cell.”
“My joints knew no peace. My left ear has never remained the same after the torture. These are only a few of the brutal encounters I endured under Buhari’s regime,” he added.
Sanyaolu noted that beyond his personal ordeal, countless young Nigerians were subjected to similar or worse fates, especially during the historic #EndSARS protests of 2020.
He emphasized that many protesters were either killed, disappeared, or remain unjustly imprisoned to date.
“Many comrades were violently bruised. Some were sent on a journey of no return. Buhari’s regime was one of sorrow, tears, and blood,” he stated.
The National Coordinator also condemned what it described as an “authoritarian and militarized presidency,” asserting that Buhari’s administration wielded state power as a weapon against dissenting voices, activists, and journalists.
In a bold conclusion to his statement, Sanyaolu declared:
“May he not end well, even in eternity.”
Adding his voice to the national reflection is award-winning investigative journalist Fisayo Soyombo, who described Buhari as a leader who had all it took to succeed but ultimately failed Nigeria.
“At the end of the day, late President Muhammadu Buhari will be largely remembered as that one Nigerian President who had every single ingredient to succeed in office — especially unprecedented public goodwill — but ultimately flattered to deceive, and eventually failed,” Soyombo wrote.
He cited the president’s early popularity and the people’s willingness to endure hardship — such as the petrol subsidy removal — without protest, as a missed opportunity for true reform.
“Such a shame how poverty, unemployment, inflation, insecurity and press freedom worsened under his watch, leading to the decimation of trust even among many of his own cult followers,” Soyombo lamented. “A promise unfulfilled!”
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