On October 20, 2020, a date that will forever be etched in the minds of tens of millions of Nigerians, the Federal Government showed citizens just how far it was willing to go to silence dissent. It was a chilling night for those who lived through it and equally traumatic for those who only heard about it later.
For those of us who actually saw it on video, it’s impossible to describe. Today is October 20, 2025, and the whereabouts of Obianuju Catherine Udeh — known to many as DJ Switch — remain unknown. What we know is that she no longer resides in Nigeria and is seeking asylum after several people have threatened her life.
The Act: Unimaginable Evil Caught on Video
Why is she in danger? Because she holds video evidence of the barbaric act carried out by the Federal Government that night. While people screamed in panic, pain, and horror, DJ Switch turned on her phone, went live on Instagram, and showed the world what federally appointed security personnel were doing to unarmed civilians.
DJ Switch could have run for her life like many others, but she chose to do something that — to this day — stands as one of the most significant acts of courage in modern Nigerian history. That single act became the most important piece of evidence proving that the Federal Government does not truly value human life.
The Denial: FG Essentially Called the Killings a Figment of Our Imagination
Most importantly, the Nigerian Army and the Federal Government denied unleashing armed security personnel on peaceful protesters that night. You’d think that kind of carnage would be hard to hide. Yet many eyewitnesses reported seeing people loading bodies into army trucks after the shooting.
Without visible bodies, the Nigerian government thought it could get away with its lie. But DJ Switch had her video, and several thousand (if not millions) of people saw it. This is why she’s on the run today.
What Was the Protest About?
You’ve probably seen posts like “Why japa when you can stay back and join us in making this country work?” The issue with that sentiment is that it ignores all the basic conditions required to make a country “work.”
Nigerians were protesting against the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a police unit set up by the Federal Government to tackle special cases of robbery and theft. In reality, SARS had long abandoned its original purpose. Instead of protecting citizens, they were extorting civilians, harassing young people, and killing road users who “disrespected” them.
Young Nigerians had enough. They started a trend on X (formerly Twitter), and before long, it had gained so much traction that even international celebrities were weighing in. Protests began in Abuja and spread rapidly across the country, with one clear demand: End SARS.
It was clear that SARS was serving no positive function. The streets weren’t any safer than before, and in fact, SARS personnel actively contributed to insecurity.
Within hours, the #EndSARS protests were in full flow, and Twitter was ablaze with the hashtag. But on the night of October 20, 2020, the government violently cut that movement short.
A country where the federal government cannot allow peaceful protesters to gather is not a country that can realistically be “fixed” by those very protesters.
The Consequences of Killing Peaceful Protest
For Nigeria’s central government, they successfully crushed dissent. But what that night revealed to Nigerians was just how far their government was willing to go to eliminate dissenting voices. A government that cannot recognise when a response is too extreme or when they have crossed a line, is not one that citizens can trust.
Youths certainly cannot rely on such a government to create policies that put human beings first, because to do so, it must first value human life. Official reports claimed at least 12 people died, but we know the number was higher. When you open fire into a crowd, the bullets don’t only hit 12 people.
Since then, young Nigerians have become disillusioned and disengaged. Beyond protests, many are unwilling to make even minor sacrifices to build the nation. And who can blame them? What do you get for leaving the comfort of your home, losing sleep, and hitting the streets to demand an end to police brutality? Killed. You get killed.
The one group of people the Federal Government needed on its side, young Nigerians, has been convinced that the state does not value them.
Conclusion
Nigeria’s political landscape has not been the same since October 20, and it will be difficult to return to what it was. How are families supposed to deal with the loss of loved ones when the very institution responsible for their deaths denies anything happened? Exactly.
The right to peacefully protest is one that every Nigerian possesses, yet the Federal Government looked the youth in the eye and said, “No, you don’t.” The message was clear: Protest, and risk us killing you. It was deafeningly loud, and everyone heard it.
Five years later, the FG’s tactic of escaping responsibility and accountability continues to work, unfortunately.
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