Sòrò-Sókè: A Framing Analysis of Creative Resistance During Nigeria’s #EndSARS Movement

This study examines the role of creative resistance, or “artivism”, in Nigeria’s #EndSARS movement, a youth-led campaign against police brutality that peaked in October 2020. Drawing on Robert Entman’s Framing Theory, it analyzes how different art forms reframed public perceptions of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and countered government efforts to delegitimize the protests. Using a qualitative approach, the research employs purposive sampling of Twitter-sourced art forms to explore how these pieces exposed systemic injustice, amplified protester voices, and mobilized local and global support. Findings reveal that artivists personalized SARS brutality, dismantled narratives portraying protesters as criminals, and invoked moral urgency through evocative symbolism, leveraging social media’s virality to sustain the movement’s momentum. The study highlights SARS’ paradoxical role as a state-sanctioned yet reviled entity, demonstrating how creative expressions clarified this ambiguity into a clarion call for reform. By situating #EndSARS within Nigeria’s protest legacy, this analysis underscores art’s transformative power in digital-age activism, offering a blueprint for resistance against oppression. It contributes to scholarship on social movements by illustrating how art and technology intersect to challenge power, preserve collective memory, and demand accountability, with implications for future struggles in Nigeria and beyond.