On October 2, Brittle Paper will release Who Gave the Order, a new collection of essays remembering the EndSARS protests. The timing for the publication is not fortuitous. It is one day after Nigeria’s Independence Day, and just ahead of the fifth anniversary of the Lekki Toll Gate shootings.

The collection is edited by Chibueze Darlington Anuonye, doctoral student in English at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln who has curated several anthologies, including Selfies and Signatures, Through the Eye of a Needle, and Daybreak. Lagos-based indie publisher Masobe Books is the publisher. Who Gave the Order is also the first title under Brittle Paper Presents, our new editorial series supporting anthology projects that take on urgent issues or fill a gap in literary culture. Usually, we would invite someone to take the lead on these projects, but in this case, Anuonye came to us with the idea already in hand. There was no hesitation. We said yes.

This project comes from a personal place. Anuonye remembers living near the Back Gate area of Imo State University in Owerri and seeing how young people were treated by police. “We run at the sight of a police officer, even when we did not commit any crime,” he writes, “because our memory is scarred by the violent reputation of the establishment they represent.” For him, Who Gave the Order is a refusal to forget what happened on October 20.

In addition to a foreword by Ezechi Onyerionwu and an introduction by the editor, the collection features thirteen essays. While the pieces revisit the events of October 2020, the goal is to offer a more layered, personal understanding of what transpired. Much has been written about what happened that day and how it ended, but traditional political analysis often misses the emotional and psychological toll. These essays bring those dimensions into view, revealing what is too often lost when political history is reduced to headlines and official accounts. Esther Ifesinachi Okonkwo writes about how violence can redefine the experience of love. Nnamdi Oguike reflects on exile and the inner fears we carry. Zenas Ubere captures a moment of joy shattered by force. Abubakar Adam Ibrahim looks at how the betrayals of 2020 echo older political wounds. Writers like Mazpa Ejikem and Ola W. Halim ask what justice even means when some voices are left out of the story.

See the list of titles below:

“Fences” by Esther Ifesinachi Okonkwo

“What Kills People is Somewhere Around Them” by Iruoma Chukwuemeka

“The Police Within Us” by Nnamdi Oguike

“What You Saw” by Zenas Ubere

“Zombies in Lagos” by Ayomipo Ifenaike

“The Death of Tomorrow” by Abubakar Ndakotsu

“I am Somebody” by Anthony Chibueze Ukwuoma

“Reshaping the Self” by Basit Jamiu

“Happy, Really” by Ukamaka Olisakwe

“Let the Kite Perch” by Mazpa Ejikem

“Bonfires in Sunset Cities” by Ola W. Halim

“#” by TJ Benson

“This was Supposed to be Different” by Abubakar Adam Ibrahim

This collection is already being seen as a major intervention in Nigerian political literature. Yale University professor Cajetan Iheka calls it “a testament to the audacity of its young people.” Nonfiction author Unoma Azuah says it offers “a unique insight into what it means for young people to die for their nation.” And the Nigeria Prize winning poet Romeo Oriogun writes: “With this anthology, Anuonye smashes through that silence, bringing queer and straight voices together as one powerful witness of our pain, our strength, and how much we have survived.”

How to support the collection: Pre-order here and follow Brittle Paper, Masobe, Anuonye on Instagram for updates.