For six days now, Nigeria’s youth have been taking to the streets to call for the disbanding of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a unit of the national police force plagued with allegations of brutality, torture, corruption and even the killings of innocent young people. Initially established in 1992 as an autonomous, uniform-less faction to combat issues related to domestic crime and terrorism, SARS have since morphed into a scourge on the daily lives of ordinary Nigerian citizens.

At the beginning of October, the #EndSARS movement exploded on Twitter when graphic footage of SARS officers shooting at the limp bodies of two men in Lagos emerged. And in the past week protests calling for urgent reform have spilt out onto the streets of cities across the country. Here, Manny Jefferson, a photographer and Lagos native, shares his images of protesters taking part in what many are calling the most significant civil movement in contemporary Nigerian history.