Veteran Nollywood actress and filmmaker Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde has revealed that her children received death threats during the 2020 #EndSARS protests, a development she said forced her to rethink how she engages in activism.

The actress, whose career spans more than three decades, spoke on Sunday while appearing as a guest on Rubbin’ Minds on Channels Television.

“I am used to death threats; I have received them many times,” she said. “But I have never seen anything like what happened during #EndSARS. It was intense.”

“My kids started getting death threats. That was when it became weird,” she said, adding that she was actively involved in the movement at multiple levels.

“I was on the streets during #EndSARS. I was doing international advocacy. I spoke with CNN, engaged with international NGOs and embassies, and I was doing a lot of work.”

She described the #EndSARS period as the most intense backlash she has ever faced, despite years of involvement in advocacy work.

She said the situation escalated when people began physically coming to her home and workplace in search of her.

“When people started coming physically to my home and place of work to look for me, I knew I had to worry about other people and not just myself,” she said.

#EndSARS was a decentralised Nigerian social movement and a series of mass protests in October 2020 against police brutality, specifically targeting the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) for human rights abuses such as torture, extortion, and extrajudicial killings.

In October 2020, Omotola joined protests at the Lekki Toll Gate to demand an end to police brutality.

Following the shootings on October 20, she faced backlash for a tweet suggesting that “if no one died, people should stop sensationalising” the event, as it “does not remove from the crime that happened.”

Many Nigerians felt her comments questioned the reality of the deaths and labelled her insensitive.

She later apologised, clarifying that she did not doubt the loss of life and was simply trying to keep the focus on the crime itself, regardless of the death count.

The #ENDSARS movement gained momentum after a viral video allegedly showed SARS officers killing a young man in Delta State. The Lekki Toll Gate shooting on October 20, 2020, where operatives allegedly fired on unarmed protesters, became its defining event.

Despite the government disbanding SARS and forming a new unit (SWAT), protesters remained sceptical. They demanded justice and accountability, the release of arrested protesters, retraining of officers, and higher police salaries.

Five years later, many of these demands remain unfulfilled, and some protesters are still detained.

Activism To Advocacy

Explaining why she has often appeared reserved in her public activism, Omotola said she has always been vocal but became more cautious as her children grew older.

“I believe I have been an activist all my life. I believe I am a born activist. Even as a child, I was very vocal and always fought for people. It came very naturally to me,” she said.

However, she noted that the realities of living in Nigeria required a shift in strategy, particularly where her family was concerned.

“When my kids were younger, I didn’t care much because I could control their movement and everything about them. But when they got older, I had to restrategise.

“I can’t control where they go, I can’t protect them as much, and I don’t want my children to become victims of choices that I have made. I don’t care for my life, that is the truth, but I care for them and other people,” she said.

The actress, however, said that it was the ENDSARS experience, “that made it clear that I needed to restrategise. Instead of physical activism, I moved fully into advocacy,” she added.

The actress has a long history of humanitarian and advocacy work, including engagements with Amnesty International, the United Nations World Food Programme, and campaigns across Sierra Leone, Liberia and the Niger Delta.

She has previously spoken about facing armed military personnel during protests earlier in her activism journey, describing such experiences as dangerous and life-threatening.

Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde remains one of Africa’s most influential film figures, with over 300 films to her credit.

She was named among Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in 2013 and received the national honour of Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR) in 2014. (Channels TV)