Disc jockey DJ Switch is currently on the run after receiving death threats following her role in filming on Instagram the shooting of #EndSARS protesters by men in military uniform at Lekki toll gate in Lagos on October 20.
The professional DJ spoke with GQ, saying she went into hiding after receiving a message that warned she could be shot.
She further claimed she was also advised by a friend in the intelligence community to go into hiding.
“He called and said, ‘Please Switch, we actually need you to get away from the street because right now you have been marked as the face of that protest,’” she said.
The October 20 Lekki shooting has remained shrouded in mystery as the army and the state government continue to pass the buck.
President Muhammadu Buhari glaringly ignored the incident in his broadcast to the nation on October 22.
Switch says several lives were lost on that fateful night but Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu claims only two persons were killed.
Switch is one of a number of celebrities at the forefront of the #EndSARS movement which caught the world’s attention in about two weeks.
Instigated by musicians Runtown and Falz, the protests kicked off with a march in Lagos on October 8. Fueled by women’s organisations like the Feminist Coalition and disaffected youth, it initially began as a protest against police brutality, but quickly morphed into a referendum on rampant corruption and bad governance.
Switch continues to worry for her safety and has been repeatedly warned of reprisal.
“Of course, I’m frightened,” she admitted. “I can’t even lie about that. I’m scared. It doesn’t stop me from saying the truth. I’m still going to say it, and I just hope I’m not going to die.”
While normalcy seems to have returned to Nigeria’s commercial capital following the removal of the curfew imposed on October 20, Switch says she is ready to return to the streets if the protest resume.
