2020 and me - How everything turned upside down// By Nehklaus

Sometimes, when I look back at the enthusiasm with which we all stepped into 2020 with, I just break down disappointed. We all believed that 2020 will be a stepping stone to greatness and truly it seemed so at first but halfway through January, we started seeing shades of this horror series called 2020.
It started in January, with news of the COVID-19 Pandemic spreading rapidly across countries like China, Italy and Spain. It seemed like the only problem until we started seeing shades of WW3 looming across the Middle East with the involvement of US military in the Air Strike that killed the Iranian military commander and the bombing outside Iraq (gladly that didn't happen). I was still thinking about what it would feel like, then on February the Forest Fire which nearly leveled Australia, endangering most of their native animal species. I really felt pity and concern for them.
Episode 3 started in March with the confirmation of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria. On the 24th of March, schools and all public event centers were shut down nationwide and the same period US recorded it's greatest stock market drop in a single day. And that's where the shit show began.

Photo of the Black Lives matter protest

April introduced the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protest following the murder of George Floyd by a White Police officer. If that wasn't enough, admist the protests going on, Jacob Blake was shot too by a White police officer and videos resurfacing where some cops admitted to extreme racist behaviors turned the protests violent.

June/July saw major rises in the death rate of victims of the COVID-19 pandemic and the hacking of twitter.

Chadwick Boseman aka Black Panther... Wakanda Forever ‍♂‍♂

In August 4th, A massive explosion at a Beirut port, by the accidental detonation of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, killed at least 190 people and injured thousands of others. And on August 28th, popular actor Chadwick Boseman, known popularly by his character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) as the "Black Panther" or "King T'challa" died after a four year battle with colon cancer which none of his fans knew about. And within that same period, deadly wildfire spread across California. Meanwhile in Nigeria, series of attacks have been spreading across the northern states especially in Bauchi and Borno State.
September saw a little calmness, but like all horror movies it's that calm, quiet moment before something major happens. It was calm but not without actions. The nationwide lockdown due the pandemic was released and schools were allowed to resume. We all felt a little relief as we were all hoping to return to normalcy but unfortunately the year 2020 had other plans for us.

Pictures of the End SARS protest

As we stepped into the grand month October, nation wide reports of police brutality at the hands of the Special Anti Robbery Squad popularly known as SARS were spreading rapidly with it's death toll climbing rapidly. On the 8th of October, the End Sars protest began, although it started as a peaceful protest, it started becoming violent with the constant attacks on the protesters. On the 11th, the IGP ordered for the dissolution of Sars and the introduction of a new unit SWAT. That puny move shocked all Nigerians because it was a clear insult to the youths of Nigeria, same people, new names and uniforms.

Note: The reason for the protests on the scrapping of SARS was their illegal mounting of road blocks, their criminal profiling on youths especially males based on good looks, expensive gadgets and tattoos. Their infringement on the human rights such as Right to life, freedom of speech, freedom of movement. Their extortion on youths and the torture and murder of over 30 youths.

Sadly, the protest slowly started turning really violent in many states, with the employment of hoodlums known as pro SARS to disrupt the protests. And finally 20th October proved to be a tipping scale.
A very remarkable date which has gone down in the history books as one of the darkest days in Nigeria. 20/10/2020; The day Nigerian youths were massacred by their own government. It started with the CBN freezing the bank accounts of prominent Nigerians supporting the End SARS movement. Then by 4pm that day, a 24hr curfew was imposed by the Lagos state government during the same time some people allegedly working for the Lagos State government and the Lekki Concession Company, removed the security cameras in Lekki Toll gate which was a hot spot for the protests. Later that evening, the lights around the Lekki tollgate axis were turned off (which has never occurred before). Few minutes after that, Armed men from the Nigerian Military opened fire on unarmed protesters, killing scores and injuring many more.
On 21st, the Lagos State government denied any of those happening while more videos of the shooting were posted on the internet. The governor of Lagos had said that there were no casualties from the incident of the previous day but later tweeted that there had been reports of one casualty which negated the report sent in by various Twitter and Instagram users who had live recordings of the killings. While the protesters gathered again at the Lekki toll gate where the shooting took place on Tuesday 20 October, they were forced out by police. While the protesters defied the curfew imposed by the Lagos state Governor, hoodlums burnt about 30 government buses at a bus station. Also burnt was Television Continental Station (TVC) linked to a former governor of the state, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who is a national leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Although the Authorities did not deny carrying out a crackdown, they refused to claim the deaths as of 21 October 2020. Brutality by the police forces made the protesters more angry intensifying the scale of the protests.
On the 22nd of October, armed men began shooting at protesters in Oyigbo, Port Harcourt. The attackers began breaking into homes, murdering those inside, and afterwards, torching down properties. It has been rumoured the shooters were Fulani herdsmen, but there is no verification for this claim. And in Aba, protests turned violent drastically with a number of both civilians and police officers killed. Such was also the case in many states in Nigeria like Rivers, Edo, Oyo, Ekiti, Plateau etc which led to the governments of such states imposing curfews on said states including Abia State, which is my location.
Days after the massacre in Lekki, Lagos, it was discovered in some states like Lagos, Oyo and Cross River that there were warehouses filled with COVID-19 pallatives which were donated by the EU but hoarded by the government. They were looted and many states are still discovering theirs.

Currently the situation is somewhat calming down, although there's still the issue of the strike action by the Academic Staffs Union of Universities (ASUU) which has made it impossible for most federal universities to resume. But we hope and pray they'll be resolved soon.
And there the Victory of Joe Bidden in the just concluded Presidential election in US and the production of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Althrough 2020 has been an eventful year, with each month bringing new events and basically all parts of the world having a fair share of those events.

Well though 2020 has been rough, there were few fun times because I met @ladyroyal by July although it feels like years and she introduced me to the Steem family. But all the same, I know that no matter the amount of lives lost this year, we shall survive to tell the tales.

#promo-steem #steemit #steemalive #steem #alive