‘I’ve chosen to ignore attempts to draw me out’ — Burna Boy finally speaks on #EndSARS

Damini Ogulu, an Afrofusion singer better known as Burna Boy, has finally broken his silence about the ongoing protest against the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).

The ‘African Giant’ crooner has become the subject of heated controversies across social media platforms since the #EndSARS campaign commenced.

This had come after other celebrities including Wizkid, Davido, Runtown and Falz spoke about the brutality and extrajudicial killing of Nigerians by operatives of the police unit.

Some Nigerians had expressed their frustration at the ‘Ye’ singer on Twitter for remaining quiet in the heat of the #EndSARS protests.

But in a statement on Saturday, the music star said he “deliberately” resolved to ignore the backlashes on social media.

He also wondered why critics had singled him out amid the dusts trailing the police department, noting that the matter is about Nigerians and not him.

“I have taken the past week to gather my thoughts. I usually respond to these matters with my emotions and my frustrations, this time I have chosen to ignore the attempts; well-meaning or derogatory, to draw me out,” he wrote.

#ENDSARS #ENDYOUTHPROFILING #ENDPOLICEBRUTALITY 🇳🇬 ….. 🚧 pic.twitter.com/z8a78dPgtD

— Burna Boy (@burnaboy) October 10, 2020

“This is not and should not be about me. It is about a fundamental problem that affects us all as Nigerians, as Africans, and as human beings.”

He recalled that in April 2019, he had used his music tour in the United States to champion protest against the police unit.

“The state of our country, Nigeria, is tricky; it has been from before I was born. My greatest concern in all of this is that SARS will end now as it allegedly has several times in the past (I recall giving calls to end SARS during my USA tour in April 2019  and morph into a different entity down the line with a different form or a different name. In my opinion, abolishing the unit is a definite first step but we cannot afford to stop there,” he added.

The ‘Ye’ singer also announced the launch of ‘The Reach’, his new foundation, aimed at helping protesters and other Nigerians wrongfully detained in the fight against SARS.

“I have created a sub-fund under my charity- The Reach called (@ProjectProtectng) to help protesters that are wrongfully harmed/arrested by SARS during and after these protests. This is a fund for the people by the people,” he wrote.