ALL VIOLENCE IS STATE VIOLENCE
Nimi Princewill and Stephanie Busari, CNN
Thu, August 1, 2024
Protests erupted in multiple cities across Nigeria Thursday as frustrated citizens took to the streets, voicing their anger over increasing hunger and “bad governance.”
The demonstrations are part of a larger wave of unrest spreading across Africa in places such as Kenya, Uganda, Ghana and now Nigeria.
The demonstrations spiraled out of control in parts of the country, including the northern Yobe and Kano states where authorities declared a 24-hour curfew as private and public properties were looted in chaotic scenes that also saw many vehicles burned.
In Kano, protesters stormed and looted a Digital Innovation Park scheduled to open next week, Communications Minister Bosun Tijani said.
Gunshots rang out in the capital Abuja and also in the neighboring Niger state as police lobbed tear gas to disperse defiant protesters. In Niger, at least six people are now feared dead, local media reported.
The state’s police spokesman Wasiu Abiodun told CNN in a statement that operatives arrested 11 armed “hoodlums” who set fire to a government building after looting it.
Abiodun said police officers also dispersed protesters who had occupied a major highway, adding that “there was no loss of life.”
Nigerian police patrol during the End Bad Governance protest at Ikeja, Lagos, on August 1, 2024. - Benson Ibeabuchi/Bloomberg/AFP/Getty Images
Another three people were reportedly killed in the northwestern Kaduna state, according to Reuters, citing eyewitnesses. The Kaduna Police Command did not return CNN’s request for comment.
In Abuja, protesters gathered outside the national stadium, where they faced off with pro-government supporters.
Activist and lawyer Deji Adeyanju told CNN Thursday that there were counter-demonstrations by pro-government protesters who arrived in buses accompanied by a security vehicle. Josephine Adeh, a police spokesperson in the city, denied this.
“The protesters became violent and began throwing stones at the police, reasons why the police had to disperse them,” she said.
‘Ten days of rage’
Demonstrators gathered under the ‘End Bad Governance in Nigeria’ coalition, using the slogan “10 Days of Rage,” and are demanding the reinstatement of a fuel subsidy whose abrupt removal last May caused a dramatic spike in the cost of food, transportation, and other commodities.
These increases have hit a populace already struggling with widespread unemployment and soaring inflation of 34%, the highest level in nearly 30 years.
One protester in the Nigerian capital told the national Channels Television that he was forced to join the Thursday protests due to hunger.
“Hunger … brought me out. I don’t have money to buy fuel … there’s total bad government. It’s 10 days (of rage). We’ll remain on the streets till our demands are met.”
Dele Farotimi, a spokesperson for the coalition coordinating the protests, attributed the large nationwide turnout of protesters to hunger, which he says “unifies every Nigerian across the political, ethnic, and religious divides.”
Ahead of the protests, President Bola Tinubu called for calm, urging citizens not to take to the streets as he feared that it “could degenerate into violence and set the country backwards.”
The government also announced last-minute measures to halt the demonstrations but they proved unsuccessful.
On Monday, Tinubu signed into law a bill that doubled the national minimum wage from N30,000 ($18.06) a month to N70,000 ($42.14). He also approved the removal of taxes on food imports, which his office said would address food inflation.
“Most of the demands that the protesters are making are actually being addressed by the federal government,” Information Minister Mohammed Idris told a press conference Monday, adding that the government had opened centers across the nation where rice would be sold to citizens “at about 50% of its cost.”
Protesters are also calling for the government to address the country’s worsening security problems, amid challenges including kidnappings for ransom.
“In the northern part of Nigeria, the largest part of our country … the primary cause of hunger is insecurity. The people cannot go to their farms. A lot of people are living in internally displaced persons camps. So you have a lot of disruptions on account of insecurity which is manifesting in both banditry, kidnapping, and terrorism,” Farotimi said.
Some of the other demands include “reducing the cost of governance, and electoral, judicial and constitutional reforms,” according to a signed statement from a coalition of civil society organizations seen by CNN.
Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu faces a backlash over his government’s spending plans despite the country’s mounting debts and cost-of-living crisis. - Kola Sulaimon/AFP/Getty Images
Leaders living in luxury
This is the first major coordinated protest in Nigeria since the deadly EndSARS demonstrations against police brutality in 2020, which resulted in deaths and injuries after security forces opened fire on unarmed protesters.
He added that Nigerians were also pained watching their leaders live in luxury while they struggled to make ends meet.
“It has gotten to that point where the people just need to be heard,” he said.
Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has faced a backlash over his government’s spending plans despite the country’s mounting debts and cost-of-living crisis.
Last year, lawmakers rejected plans for a multimillion-dollar presidential yacht before approving a budget that allocated millions of dollars for a presidential fleet, including the purchase of SUV vehicles for the presidency and the First Lady’s Office.
The budget also allocated funds to cover the cost of renovating the president’s residential quarters. Analysts told CNN at the time it was “hypocrisy” for the government to spend on luxuries while impoverished citizens suffer hardship.
Nigerians hit with 24-hour curfews amid protests
Wedaeli Chibelushi in London & Chris Ewokor in Abuja - BBC News
Fri, August 2, 2024
Protesters are railing against the high cost of living and what they say is "bad governance" [AFP]
Millions of residents in northern Nigeria have been placed under 24-hour curfews amid nationwide protests against the high cost of living.
Governments in the states of Kano, Jigawa, Yobe and Katsina have ordered locals not to leave their homes - and therefore not attend protests - on Friday.
The authorities say the curfew is necessary because "hoodlums" have hijacked the protests in order to loot and vandalise properties.
There is a heavy security presence around the country with nine more "days of rage" scheduled by the movement's organisers.
On the first day, demonstrations in the northern city of Kano drew the largest crowds.
Police fired live bullets and tear gas - and sprayed hot water - to try and disperse thousands of demonstrators. Three people were shot dead and many others were injured.
Looters also broke into a warehouse near the Kano governor's house and police say 269 people have since been arrested with the recovery of many 25-litre groundnut oil cartons and other items taken.
According to rights group Amnesty International, 13 protesters across Nigeria were killed by security forces on the first day of the protests.
The frustration of Nigerians vowing 'days of rage'
Why Nigeria's economy is in such a mess
People turn to 'throw-away' rice for food
On Thursday night, Nigeria's police chief Kayode Egbetokun said four people in the north-eastern state of Borno had been killed by an "explosion" within a crowd of protesters.
Thirty-four others were "severely" injured, he said.
A curfew was announced there after anti-government protesters began marching in the state capital, Maiduguri, although the authorities cited an earlier explosion as the reason why Borno had joined its neighbouring states in imposing a 24-hour lockdown.
The blast on Wednesday night had killed 16 people at a teashop in the rural community of Kawori, according to local reports.
No-one has said they were behind the attack, but locals suspect it was carried out by notorious jihadist group Boko Haram, which has been active in the north-east since 2009.
On Friday, protesters regrouped in major cities across the country. In the capital city, Abuja, police fired tear gas in an effort to stop protesters marching on the city centre and other satellite towns.
In Lagos, Nigeria's biggest city, some banks and shops reopened after closing on the first day of the protests - and the internet connection remains glitchy.
Inspector-General Egbetokun said he had placed his officers on "red alert". The police are prepared to respond swiftly to any threats to public safety and order, he added.
The nationwide demonstrations were organised via social media using the hashtag #EndBadGovernance and inspired by the recent success of protesters in Kenya, who forced the government there to scrap plans to increase taxes.
During Thursday's protests, which were largely peaceful in the south, demonstrators chanted slogans such as: “We are hungry.”
Many of them are angered by President Bola Tinubu’s removal of a subsidy on fuel - announced with immediate effect during his inauguration speech in May 2023.
It was aimed at cutting government expenditure, but sent pump prices soaring with a ripple effect on other goods, such as food.
Protesters also want the government to carry out wide-ranging reforms to the country’s electoral system and the judiciary.
A spokesperson for Kano's governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, said protests there were largely peaceful but a curfew was necessary because of the "rampant looting, destruction of property and violence" unleashed by "thugs".
Likewise, Yobe State Government imposed a curfew on the areas of Potiskum, Gashua, and Nguru, where it says "hoodlums are taking advantage of the protest to vandalise and loot government and private properties".
Katsina's government said "miscreants" had "hijacked the protests" there.
Additional reporting by the BBC's Azeezat Olaoluwa
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Curfew imposed in Nigerian state after 'hunger' protest
Mansur Abubakar - BBC News, Lagos
Thu, August 1, 2024
Kano has seen the biggest turnout of protesters so far - with this man telling the BBC people are dying of hunger [ Zaharadeen Lawal / BBC]
A curfew has been imposed in Nigeria's second-biggest state, Kano, after protests against the high cost of living were "hijacked by thugs" who engaged in widespread looting and the destruction of property, the governor's office has said.
Kano saw the largest crowds on the first day of nationwide protests that forced many businesses to shut.
Demonstrators in all major cities took to the streets, chanting slogans such as: “We are hungry.”
Police fired live bullets and tear gas - and sprayed hot water - to try and disperse thousands of demonstrators in Kano city. Four people were wounded, and taken to hospital.
Protesters had earlier set alight tyres to make a bonfire in front of the house of state governor Abba Kabir Yusuf.
Looters also broke into a warehouse near his house and people were seen carrying away 25-litre cartons of vegetable cooking oil and mattresses.
The curfew effectively bars protests from continuing, with all residents expected to remain at home.
The last census in Nigeria, in 2006, put Kano state's population at 9.4 million, with unofficial estimates putting its current population at around 20 million.
The protests - called for 10 days - have been organised via social media and inspired by the recent success of protesters in Kenya who forced the government to scrap plans to increase taxes.
Mr Yusuf's spokesman said the protests were peaceful in Kano, but the governor was forced to declare a curfew to "restore order and ensure the safety of our communities" because of "rampant looting, destruction of property and violence" unleashed by "thugs".
On Wednesday night, a court ordered that protesters in the capital, Abuja, keep to the National stadium, which is located on the city’s outskirts.
But after gathering at the stadium’s gate on Thursday morning, the demonstrators - who have also been shouting the refrain “End bad governance” - began heading into the city centre.
This prompted police to fire tear-gas cannisters to try and stop the procession, which affected traffic.
The security forces were deployed at strategic locations within the capital, where even banks are closed, and in surrounding towns.
The frustration of Nigerians vowing 'days of rage'
Why Nigeria's economy is in such a mess
People turn to 'throw-away' rice for food
In Lagos, Nigeria’s economic hub, protesters shouted "ole", meaning "thief" in the Yoruba language - in reference to President Bola Tinubu and his government.
Many are angered by President Tinubu’s removal of a subsidy on fuel - announced with immediate effect during his inauguration speech in May 2023.
It was aimed at cutting government expenditure, but sent pump prices soaring with a ripple effect on other goods.
“Top on our demand is the subsidy removal. The government should reverse that decision,” Abuja protester Abiodun Sanusi told the BBC.
They also want the government to carry out wide-ranging reforms to the country’s electoral system and the judiciary.
"You can’t beat a baby and ask the baby not to cry"", Source: Kingsley Uadiale, Source description: Lagos protester, Image: Kingsley Uadiale
Before this so-called “day of rage”, the government appealed to Nigerians not to take to the streets and give the president time for policies to bear fruit.
But Lagos protester Kingsley Uadiale dismissed this saying, “Hunger is the reason why we’re all here. You can’t beat a baby and ask the baby not to cry.”
If the Tinubu administration wanted patience then, he said, they should lead by example.
“You can’t tell us to be patient and you’re acquiring a private jet,” he said, citing plans to buy new planes worth millions of dollars for Mr Tinubu and his deputy Kashim Shettima.
Dabiraoluwa Adeyinka, an activist also protesting in Lagos, said the aim of the demonstration was to get the price hikes on essential commodities reversed.
“If they don’t yield, we will continue to protest,” she told the BBC
Additional reporting from BBC reporters Zaharadeen Lawal in Kano, Chris Ewokor in Abuja & Simi Jolaoso in Lagos.
A protester held out a bullet cartridge in Kano after the shots were fired [ Zaharadeen Lawal / BBC]
Security is tight in Lagos with officers escorting the marchers [EPA]
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Amnesty International: At least 13 killed by Nigerian security forces during protests
Paul Godfrey
Fri, August 2, 2024
Protests against hunger, high prices and mismanagement of Nigeria's economy turned deadly with at least 13 people killed with Amnesty International accusing authorities of opening fire with live ammunition while authorities blamed "thugs" and Islamist militants for the violence. Photo by Emmanuel Adegboye/EPA-EFE
Aug. 2 (UPI) -- At least 13 protestors and a police officer were killed after nationwide demonstrations in Nigeria over food shortages, high energy prices and corruption turned deadly.
Four people died and dozens were injured in a bomb blast in Borno State and hundreds were arrested amid curfews in at least two other northern states imposed after government and public buildings and facilities were targeted and looted, according to police who blamed the deaths on Boko Haram militants they alleged had infiltrated protests in Maiduguru.
The governor of the northern state of Kano, the country's second most populous state after the Abuja Federal Capital Territory, said violence flared after "thugs" took over the protests in Kano City where four people were hospitalized after police used live fire, tear gas and water cannon spraying hot water to break up a crowd of thousands.
However, Amnesty International said the people who hijacked the protests in Kano were "hired" to undermine the right to peaceful protest.
The group said it had verified killings of another nine people -- six in Suleja, just outside Abuja, and three in Kaduna 125 miles north of the capital, alleging that all 13 had died as a result of security forces "shooting indiscriminately into crowds of unarmed protestors."
"Our findings, so far, show that security personnel at the locations where lives were lost deliberately used tactics designed to kill while dealing with gatherings of people protesting hunger and deep poverty," the rights group's Nigeria branch said in a post on X.
"Nigerian security agencies' unlawful attitude of using firearms as [a] tactical tool for the management of protests must end. Authorities must investigate these incidents and ensure that security personnel suspected of responsibility for deadly use of force are held to account through fair trial.
"Violent crackdown on peaceful protesters is unjustified and unacceptable."
The aims of the 10 days of protests include the reintroduction of gas and electricity subsidies canceled by President Bola Tinubu as one of his first acts coming into office in May 2023 as part of ambitious economic reforms in an effort to pull the country out of a deepening economic crisis.
A collapse in the value of the naira after Tinubu abandoned the peg with the dollar and rampant inflation, which topped 34% in June according to the central bank, has seen petrol prices more than triple and food prices double placing people in desperate straits a country where the monthly minimum wage is around $43.
Civic leaders called on Tinubu to act to defuse the unrest.
"This government must address the challenges of hunger and poverty, and it must also do everything possible to assure the people," said Chief Ayo Adebanjo, head of Afenifere, a group that speaks for the country's ethnic-Yoruba population.
Adewole Adebayo, the Social Democratic Party's candidate who challenged Tinubu for the presidency in February 2023, urged the president to "get a grip" and take control of the situation by addressing the extreme difficulties of Nigerians caused by his administration's policies.
Rights group says security forces have killed 9 as Nigeria protests over hardship enter a second day
CHINEDU ASADU
Updated Fri, August 2, 2024
Nimi Princewill and Stephanie Busari, CNN
Thu, August 1, 2024
Protests erupted in multiple cities across Nigeria Thursday as frustrated citizens took to the streets, voicing their anger over increasing hunger and “bad governance.”
The demonstrations are part of a larger wave of unrest spreading across Africa in places such as Kenya, Uganda, Ghana and now Nigeria.
The demonstrations spiraled out of control in parts of the country, including the northern Yobe and Kano states where authorities declared a 24-hour curfew as private and public properties were looted in chaotic scenes that also saw many vehicles burned.
In Kano, protesters stormed and looted a Digital Innovation Park scheduled to open next week, Communications Minister Bosun Tijani said.
Gunshots rang out in the capital Abuja and also in the neighboring Niger state as police lobbed tear gas to disperse defiant protesters. In Niger, at least six people are now feared dead, local media reported.
The state’s police spokesman Wasiu Abiodun told CNN in a statement that operatives arrested 11 armed “hoodlums” who set fire to a government building after looting it.
Abiodun said police officers also dispersed protesters who had occupied a major highway, adding that “there was no loss of life.”
Nigerian police patrol during the End Bad Governance protest at Ikeja, Lagos, on August 1, 2024. - Benson Ibeabuchi/Bloomberg/AFP/Getty Images
Another three people were reportedly killed in the northwestern Kaduna state, according to Reuters, citing eyewitnesses. The Kaduna Police Command did not return CNN’s request for comment.
In Abuja, protesters gathered outside the national stadium, where they faced off with pro-government supporters.
Activist and lawyer Deji Adeyanju told CNN Thursday that there were counter-demonstrations by pro-government protesters who arrived in buses accompanied by a security vehicle. Josephine Adeh, a police spokesperson in the city, denied this.
“The protesters became violent and began throwing stones at the police, reasons why the police had to disperse them,” she said.
‘Ten days of rage’
Demonstrators gathered under the ‘End Bad Governance in Nigeria’ coalition, using the slogan “10 Days of Rage,” and are demanding the reinstatement of a fuel subsidy whose abrupt removal last May caused a dramatic spike in the cost of food, transportation, and other commodities.
These increases have hit a populace already struggling with widespread unemployment and soaring inflation of 34%, the highest level in nearly 30 years.
One protester in the Nigerian capital told the national Channels Television that he was forced to join the Thursday protests due to hunger.
“Hunger … brought me out. I don’t have money to buy fuel … there’s total bad government. It’s 10 days (of rage). We’ll remain on the streets till our demands are met.”
Dele Farotimi, a spokesperson for the coalition coordinating the protests, attributed the large nationwide turnout of protesters to hunger, which he says “unifies every Nigerian across the political, ethnic, and religious divides.”
Ahead of the protests, President Bola Tinubu called for calm, urging citizens not to take to the streets as he feared that it “could degenerate into violence and set the country backwards.”
The government also announced last-minute measures to halt the demonstrations but they proved unsuccessful.
On Monday, Tinubu signed into law a bill that doubled the national minimum wage from N30,000 ($18.06) a month to N70,000 ($42.14). He also approved the removal of taxes on food imports, which his office said would address food inflation.
“Most of the demands that the protesters are making are actually being addressed by the federal government,” Information Minister Mohammed Idris told a press conference Monday, adding that the government had opened centers across the nation where rice would be sold to citizens “at about 50% of its cost.”
Protesters are also calling for the government to address the country’s worsening security problems, amid challenges including kidnappings for ransom.
“In the northern part of Nigeria, the largest part of our country … the primary cause of hunger is insecurity. The people cannot go to their farms. A lot of people are living in internally displaced persons camps. So you have a lot of disruptions on account of insecurity which is manifesting in both banditry, kidnapping, and terrorism,” Farotimi said.
Some of the other demands include “reducing the cost of governance, and electoral, judicial and constitutional reforms,” according to a signed statement from a coalition of civil society organizations seen by CNN.
Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu faces a backlash over his government’s spending plans despite the country’s mounting debts and cost-of-living crisis. - Kola Sulaimon/AFP/Getty Images
Leaders living in luxury
This is the first major coordinated protest in Nigeria since the deadly EndSARS demonstrations against police brutality in 2020, which resulted in deaths and injuries after security forces opened fire on unarmed protesters.
He added that Nigerians were also pained watching their leaders live in luxury while they struggled to make ends meet.
“It has gotten to that point where the people just need to be heard,” he said.
Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has faced a backlash over his government’s spending plans despite the country’s mounting debts and cost-of-living crisis.
Last year, lawmakers rejected plans for a multimillion-dollar presidential yacht before approving a budget that allocated millions of dollars for a presidential fleet, including the purchase of SUV vehicles for the presidency and the First Lady’s Office.
The budget also allocated funds to cover the cost of renovating the president’s residential quarters. Analysts told CNN at the time it was “hypocrisy” for the government to spend on luxuries while impoverished citizens suffer hardship.
Nigerians hit with 24-hour curfews amid protests
Wedaeli Chibelushi in London & Chris Ewokor in Abuja - BBC News
Fri, August 2, 2024
Protesters are railing against the high cost of living and what they say is "bad governance" [AFP]
Millions of residents in northern Nigeria have been placed under 24-hour curfews amid nationwide protests against the high cost of living.
Governments in the states of Kano, Jigawa, Yobe and Katsina have ordered locals not to leave their homes - and therefore not attend protests - on Friday.
The authorities say the curfew is necessary because "hoodlums" have hijacked the protests in order to loot and vandalise properties.
There is a heavy security presence around the country with nine more "days of rage" scheduled by the movement's organisers.
On the first day, demonstrations in the northern city of Kano drew the largest crowds.
Police fired live bullets and tear gas - and sprayed hot water - to try and disperse thousands of demonstrators. Three people were shot dead and many others were injured.
Looters also broke into a warehouse near the Kano governor's house and police say 269 people have since been arrested with the recovery of many 25-litre groundnut oil cartons and other items taken.
According to rights group Amnesty International, 13 protesters across Nigeria were killed by security forces on the first day of the protests.
The frustration of Nigerians vowing 'days of rage'
Why Nigeria's economy is in such a mess
People turn to 'throw-away' rice for food
On Thursday night, Nigeria's police chief Kayode Egbetokun said four people in the north-eastern state of Borno had been killed by an "explosion" within a crowd of protesters.
Thirty-four others were "severely" injured, he said.
A curfew was announced there after anti-government protesters began marching in the state capital, Maiduguri, although the authorities cited an earlier explosion as the reason why Borno had joined its neighbouring states in imposing a 24-hour lockdown.
The blast on Wednesday night had killed 16 people at a teashop in the rural community of Kawori, according to local reports.
No-one has said they were behind the attack, but locals suspect it was carried out by notorious jihadist group Boko Haram, which has been active in the north-east since 2009.
On Friday, protesters regrouped in major cities across the country. In the capital city, Abuja, police fired tear gas in an effort to stop protesters marching on the city centre and other satellite towns.
In Lagos, Nigeria's biggest city, some banks and shops reopened after closing on the first day of the protests - and the internet connection remains glitchy.
Inspector-General Egbetokun said he had placed his officers on "red alert". The police are prepared to respond swiftly to any threats to public safety and order, he added.
The nationwide demonstrations were organised via social media using the hashtag #EndBadGovernance and inspired by the recent success of protesters in Kenya, who forced the government there to scrap plans to increase taxes.
During Thursday's protests, which were largely peaceful in the south, demonstrators chanted slogans such as: “We are hungry.”
Many of them are angered by President Bola Tinubu’s removal of a subsidy on fuel - announced with immediate effect during his inauguration speech in May 2023.
It was aimed at cutting government expenditure, but sent pump prices soaring with a ripple effect on other goods, such as food.
Protesters also want the government to carry out wide-ranging reforms to the country’s electoral system and the judiciary.
A spokesperson for Kano's governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, said protests there were largely peaceful but a curfew was necessary because of the "rampant looting, destruction of property and violence" unleashed by "thugs".
Likewise, Yobe State Government imposed a curfew on the areas of Potiskum, Gashua, and Nguru, where it says "hoodlums are taking advantage of the protest to vandalise and loot government and private properties".
Katsina's government said "miscreants" had "hijacked the protests" there.
Additional reporting by the BBC's Azeezat Olaoluwa
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Curfew imposed in Nigerian state after 'hunger' protest
Mansur Abubakar - BBC News, Lagos
Thu, August 1, 2024
Kano has seen the biggest turnout of protesters so far - with this man telling the BBC people are dying of hunger [ Zaharadeen Lawal / BBC]
A curfew has been imposed in Nigeria's second-biggest state, Kano, after protests against the high cost of living were "hijacked by thugs" who engaged in widespread looting and the destruction of property, the governor's office has said.
Kano saw the largest crowds on the first day of nationwide protests that forced many businesses to shut.
Demonstrators in all major cities took to the streets, chanting slogans such as: “We are hungry.”
Police fired live bullets and tear gas - and sprayed hot water - to try and disperse thousands of demonstrators in Kano city. Four people were wounded, and taken to hospital.
Protesters had earlier set alight tyres to make a bonfire in front of the house of state governor Abba Kabir Yusuf.
Looters also broke into a warehouse near his house and people were seen carrying away 25-litre cartons of vegetable cooking oil and mattresses.
The curfew effectively bars protests from continuing, with all residents expected to remain at home.
The last census in Nigeria, in 2006, put Kano state's population at 9.4 million, with unofficial estimates putting its current population at around 20 million.
The protests - called for 10 days - have been organised via social media and inspired by the recent success of protesters in Kenya who forced the government to scrap plans to increase taxes.
Mr Yusuf's spokesman said the protests were peaceful in Kano, but the governor was forced to declare a curfew to "restore order and ensure the safety of our communities" because of "rampant looting, destruction of property and violence" unleashed by "thugs".
On Wednesday night, a court ordered that protesters in the capital, Abuja, keep to the National stadium, which is located on the city’s outskirts.
But after gathering at the stadium’s gate on Thursday morning, the demonstrators - who have also been shouting the refrain “End bad governance” - began heading into the city centre.
This prompted police to fire tear-gas cannisters to try and stop the procession, which affected traffic.
The security forces were deployed at strategic locations within the capital, where even banks are closed, and in surrounding towns.
The frustration of Nigerians vowing 'days of rage'
Why Nigeria's economy is in such a mess
People turn to 'throw-away' rice for food
In Lagos, Nigeria’s economic hub, protesters shouted "ole", meaning "thief" in the Yoruba language - in reference to President Bola Tinubu and his government.
Many are angered by President Tinubu’s removal of a subsidy on fuel - announced with immediate effect during his inauguration speech in May 2023.
It was aimed at cutting government expenditure, but sent pump prices soaring with a ripple effect on other goods.
“Top on our demand is the subsidy removal. The government should reverse that decision,” Abuja protester Abiodun Sanusi told the BBC.
They also want the government to carry out wide-ranging reforms to the country’s electoral system and the judiciary.
"You can’t beat a baby and ask the baby not to cry"", Source: Kingsley Uadiale, Source description: Lagos protester, Image: Kingsley Uadiale
Before this so-called “day of rage”, the government appealed to Nigerians not to take to the streets and give the president time for policies to bear fruit.
But Lagos protester Kingsley Uadiale dismissed this saying, “Hunger is the reason why we’re all here. You can’t beat a baby and ask the baby not to cry.”
If the Tinubu administration wanted patience then, he said, they should lead by example.
“You can’t tell us to be patient and you’re acquiring a private jet,” he said, citing plans to buy new planes worth millions of dollars for Mr Tinubu and his deputy Kashim Shettima.
Dabiraoluwa Adeyinka, an activist also protesting in Lagos, said the aim of the demonstration was to get the price hikes on essential commodities reversed.
“If they don’t yield, we will continue to protest,” she told the BBC
Additional reporting from BBC reporters Zaharadeen Lawal in Kano, Chris Ewokor in Abuja & Simi Jolaoso in Lagos.
A protester held out a bullet cartridge in Kano after the shots were fired [ Zaharadeen Lawal / BBC]
Security is tight in Lagos with officers escorting the marchers [EPA]
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Is Nigeria on the right track after a year of Tinubu?
The Nigerian professor who makes more money welding
Kenyan president's humbling shows power of African youth
Amnesty International: At least 13 killed by Nigerian security forces during protests
Paul Godfrey
Fri, August 2, 2024
Protests against hunger, high prices and mismanagement of Nigeria's economy turned deadly with at least 13 people killed with Amnesty International accusing authorities of opening fire with live ammunition while authorities blamed "thugs" and Islamist militants for the violence. Photo by Emmanuel Adegboye/EPA-EFE
Aug. 2 (UPI) -- At least 13 protestors and a police officer were killed after nationwide demonstrations in Nigeria over food shortages, high energy prices and corruption turned deadly.
Four people died and dozens were injured in a bomb blast in Borno State and hundreds were arrested amid curfews in at least two other northern states imposed after government and public buildings and facilities were targeted and looted, according to police who blamed the deaths on Boko Haram militants they alleged had infiltrated protests in Maiduguru.
The governor of the northern state of Kano, the country's second most populous state after the Abuja Federal Capital Territory, said violence flared after "thugs" took over the protests in Kano City where four people were hospitalized after police used live fire, tear gas and water cannon spraying hot water to break up a crowd of thousands.
However, Amnesty International said the people who hijacked the protests in Kano were "hired" to undermine the right to peaceful protest.
The group said it had verified killings of another nine people -- six in Suleja, just outside Abuja, and three in Kaduna 125 miles north of the capital, alleging that all 13 had died as a result of security forces "shooting indiscriminately into crowds of unarmed protestors."
"Our findings, so far, show that security personnel at the locations where lives were lost deliberately used tactics designed to kill while dealing with gatherings of people protesting hunger and deep poverty," the rights group's Nigeria branch said in a post on X.
"Nigerian security agencies' unlawful attitude of using firearms as [a] tactical tool for the management of protests must end. Authorities must investigate these incidents and ensure that security personnel suspected of responsibility for deadly use of force are held to account through fair trial.
"Violent crackdown on peaceful protesters is unjustified and unacceptable."
The aims of the 10 days of protests include the reintroduction of gas and electricity subsidies canceled by President Bola Tinubu as one of his first acts coming into office in May 2023 as part of ambitious economic reforms in an effort to pull the country out of a deepening economic crisis.
A collapse in the value of the naira after Tinubu abandoned the peg with the dollar and rampant inflation, which topped 34% in June according to the central bank, has seen petrol prices more than triple and food prices double placing people in desperate straits a country where the monthly minimum wage is around $43.
Civic leaders called on Tinubu to act to defuse the unrest.
"This government must address the challenges of hunger and poverty, and it must also do everything possible to assure the people," said Chief Ayo Adebanjo, head of Afenifere, a group that speaks for the country's ethnic-Yoruba population.
Adewole Adebayo, the Social Democratic Party's candidate who challenged Tinubu for the presidency in February 2023, urged the president to "get a grip" and take control of the situation by addressing the extreme difficulties of Nigerians caused by his administration's policies.
Rights group says security forces have killed 9 as Nigeria protests over hardship enter a second day
CHINEDU ASADU
Updated Fri, August 2, 2024
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — At least nine people were killed by Nigerian security forces as protesters clashed with police during mass demonstrations over the country's economic crisis, a rights group said Friday, while authorities said a police officer was killed and several others injured.
A further four people were killed and 34 injured on Thursday when a bomb went off in the northeastern state of Borno, authorities said. The state has been wracked by the world’s longest war on militancy, which has left millions displaced and hungry.
More than 300 protesters were arrested and curfews were imposed in five northern states after the looting of government and public properties, Nigerian police said.
The police continued to fire tear gas at protesters in various locations as they regrouped on Friday.
National police chief Kayode Egbetokun said Thursday night that the police are on red alert and may seek the help of the military.
Amnesty International’s Nigeria director Isa Sanusi said in an interview that the group independently verified deaths that were reported by witnesses, families of the victims, and lawyers.
The protests were mainly over food shortages and accusations of misgovernment and corruption in Africa’s most populous country. Nigeria’s public officials are among the best paid in Africa, a stark contrast in a country that has some of the world’s poorest and hungriest people despite being one of the continent’s top oil producers.
Carrying placards, bells and Nigeria’s green-and-white flag, the mostly young protesters chanted songs as they listed their demands, including the reinstatement of gas and electricity subsidies that were canceled as part of an economic reform effort.
Violence and looting were concentrated in Nigeria's northern states, which are among the hardest hit by hunger and insecurity. Dozens of protesters were seen running with looted goods including furniture and gallons of cooking oil.
Egbetokun, the police chief, said officers “aimed at ensuring peaceful conduct." But, he added “regrettably, events in some major cities today showed that what was being instigated was mass uprising and looting, not protest.”
The police chief’s claim was disputed by rights groups and activists.
“Our findings so far show that security personnel at the locations where lives were lost deliberately used tactics designed to kill,” Sanusi said.
Authorities feared the protests, which have been gathering momentum on social media, could be a replay of the deadly 2020 demonstrations against police brutality in this West African nation, or as a wave of violence similar to last month’s chaotic tax hike protests in Kenya.
However, the threats that emerged as the protests turned violent in some places did “not require that level of response” from police officers, said Anietie Ewang, a Nigerian researcher with Human Rights Watch.
Nigerians protest ‘bad governance’, cost of living, runaway inflation
A further four people were killed and 34 injured on Thursday when a bomb went off in the northeastern state of Borno, authorities said. The state has been wracked by the world’s longest war on militancy, which has left millions displaced and hungry.
More than 300 protesters were arrested and curfews were imposed in five northern states after the looting of government and public properties, Nigerian police said.
The police continued to fire tear gas at protesters in various locations as they regrouped on Friday.
National police chief Kayode Egbetokun said Thursday night that the police are on red alert and may seek the help of the military.
Amnesty International’s Nigeria director Isa Sanusi said in an interview that the group independently verified deaths that were reported by witnesses, families of the victims, and lawyers.
The protests were mainly over food shortages and accusations of misgovernment and corruption in Africa’s most populous country. Nigeria’s public officials are among the best paid in Africa, a stark contrast in a country that has some of the world’s poorest and hungriest people despite being one of the continent’s top oil producers.
Carrying placards, bells and Nigeria’s green-and-white flag, the mostly young protesters chanted songs as they listed their demands, including the reinstatement of gas and electricity subsidies that were canceled as part of an economic reform effort.
Violence and looting were concentrated in Nigeria's northern states, which are among the hardest hit by hunger and insecurity. Dozens of protesters were seen running with looted goods including furniture and gallons of cooking oil.
Egbetokun, the police chief, said officers “aimed at ensuring peaceful conduct." But, he added “regrettably, events in some major cities today showed that what was being instigated was mass uprising and looting, not protest.”
The police chief’s claim was disputed by rights groups and activists.
“Our findings so far show that security personnel at the locations where lives were lost deliberately used tactics designed to kill,” Sanusi said.
Authorities feared the protests, which have been gathering momentum on social media, could be a replay of the deadly 2020 demonstrations against police brutality in this West African nation, or as a wave of violence similar to last month’s chaotic tax hike protests in Kenya.
However, the threats that emerged as the protests turned violent in some places did “not require that level of response” from police officers, said Anietie Ewang, a Nigerian researcher with Human Rights Watch.
Nigerians protest ‘bad governance’, cost of living, runaway inflation
Alexander Onukwue
Thu, August 1, 2024
The News
LAGOS/KANO — Nigerians took to the streets on Thursday to protest the rising cost of living in the country. Thousands of residents in the capital Abuja, Lagos, and other major cities marched in grievance with banners bearing complaints about hunger, bad governance, and the effects of soaring inflation.
Protesters in some instances were met with forceful reaction by law enforcement agencies.
In Abuja, police officers deployed tear gas before midday to deter those who gathered around the Eagle Square, an open-air auditorium close to the Nigerian president’s residence often used for presidential ceremonies. A court order granted to the capital city’s minister on Wednesday required protests to be limited to a stadium located away from the central business and government agency districts.
In Kano and Lagos — Nigeria’s largest states by population — thousands of protesters marched through several parts of each metropolis, including towards the respective governors’ lodges. Protesters at the Lekki tollgate in Lagos were also hit with tear gas, according to multiple reports by local news media. The tollgate is a significant site: In Oct. 2020, police fired at unarmed protesters to forcefully end the EndSARS protest against police brutality.
Many mobile internet subscribers to Nigeria’s four major network operators reported poorer-than-usual connectivity on Thursday. A spokesperson for the Nigerian Communications Commission, which oversees internet service providers, told Semafor the agency had not received quality of service complaints and said it did not direct operators to control access.
Know More
Akintunde Akinleye/Reuters
This week’s protests come three months after the first anniversary of Bola Tinubu’s inauguration as Nigeria’s president. His tenure has been marked by rapid-fire policy changes, including ending a popular fuel subsidy and dramatic foreign exchange reforms. The impact has been much higher prices for food and transportation for households, and inflation has skyrocketed to 34%, according to the state’s statistics agency. Tinubu’s presidency has also coincided with the increasing exit of multinational consumer goods companies from the US giant Procter & Gamble, to British conglomerates Unilever and Diageo.
This marks the second cost of living protest since Tinubu became president. A two-day march in February was led by the nation’s two largest labor unions and centered around a demand for an increased minimum wage. Tinubu signed a 133% increase into law earlier this week, raising the base monthly salary in Nigeria to 70,000 naira ($46). The law will be reviewed every three years.
In an attempt to stop the protests, the president met with traditional and religious leaders last week. However, presidential aides accused an opposition candidate that ran in last year’s election of aiming to foment “anarchy” through the protests.
Room for Disagreement
The Nigerian Baptist Convention, an evangelical Christian denomination, said “protest is not an option” and asked its members not to participate in it. The group said the country is in a state of peace and that its current problems did not begin with Tinubu. “When we were being plunged into a painful future by some past leaders, we did not know that we were heading for where we are now. Therefore, all blame cannot be heaped on our current leaders,” the convention’s president wrote in a statement.
The View From the Protesters
Demonstrators in Kano, the northern region’s commercial nerve center, embodied the ongoing protests’ most specific anxieties and demands. “You are seeing me alive but I am dead because eating food has become a big problem,” said 35-year-old Audu Bature. He wants Tinubu to “restore Nigeria to the situation he found it before assuming office.”
Muhammad Yakubu, 75, said he joined the protests to show solidarity as he is no longer able to afford the shop he rents for his business in the city. “If this situation of bad politics persists we will get to a point where democracy will be useless and these youth need to be managed,” he warned.
Bilikisu Alhassan, 31, joined the protests because “there is too much hunger and poverty in the country,” demanding a return to government policies that provided cheaper petrol to Nigerians. “As you can see I am wearing a bathroom slippers to go out, I can’t even wear a good shoe. I used to wear nice clothes before, this has become history,” she said.
Thu, August 1, 2024
The News
LAGOS/KANO — Nigerians took to the streets on Thursday to protest the rising cost of living in the country. Thousands of residents in the capital Abuja, Lagos, and other major cities marched in grievance with banners bearing complaints about hunger, bad governance, and the effects of soaring inflation.
Protesters in some instances were met with forceful reaction by law enforcement agencies.
In Abuja, police officers deployed tear gas before midday to deter those who gathered around the Eagle Square, an open-air auditorium close to the Nigerian president’s residence often used for presidential ceremonies. A court order granted to the capital city’s minister on Wednesday required protests to be limited to a stadium located away from the central business and government agency districts.
In Kano and Lagos — Nigeria’s largest states by population — thousands of protesters marched through several parts of each metropolis, including towards the respective governors’ lodges. Protesters at the Lekki tollgate in Lagos were also hit with tear gas, according to multiple reports by local news media. The tollgate is a significant site: In Oct. 2020, police fired at unarmed protesters to forcefully end the EndSARS protest against police brutality.
Many mobile internet subscribers to Nigeria’s four major network operators reported poorer-than-usual connectivity on Thursday. A spokesperson for the Nigerian Communications Commission, which oversees internet service providers, told Semafor the agency had not received quality of service complaints and said it did not direct operators to control access.
Know More
Akintunde Akinleye/Reuters
This week’s protests come three months after the first anniversary of Bola Tinubu’s inauguration as Nigeria’s president. His tenure has been marked by rapid-fire policy changes, including ending a popular fuel subsidy and dramatic foreign exchange reforms. The impact has been much higher prices for food and transportation for households, and inflation has skyrocketed to 34%, according to the state’s statistics agency. Tinubu’s presidency has also coincided with the increasing exit of multinational consumer goods companies from the US giant Procter & Gamble, to British conglomerates Unilever and Diageo.
This marks the second cost of living protest since Tinubu became president. A two-day march in February was led by the nation’s two largest labor unions and centered around a demand for an increased minimum wage. Tinubu signed a 133% increase into law earlier this week, raising the base monthly salary in Nigeria to 70,000 naira ($46). The law will be reviewed every three years.
In an attempt to stop the protests, the president met with traditional and religious leaders last week. However, presidential aides accused an opposition candidate that ran in last year’s election of aiming to foment “anarchy” through the protests.
Room for Disagreement
The Nigerian Baptist Convention, an evangelical Christian denomination, said “protest is not an option” and asked its members not to participate in it. The group said the country is in a state of peace and that its current problems did not begin with Tinubu. “When we were being plunged into a painful future by some past leaders, we did not know that we were heading for where we are now. Therefore, all blame cannot be heaped on our current leaders,” the convention’s president wrote in a statement.
The View From the Protesters
Demonstrators in Kano, the northern region’s commercial nerve center, embodied the ongoing protests’ most specific anxieties and demands. “You are seeing me alive but I am dead because eating food has become a big problem,” said 35-year-old Audu Bature. He wants Tinubu to “restore Nigeria to the situation he found it before assuming office.”
Muhammad Yakubu, 75, said he joined the protests to show solidarity as he is no longer able to afford the shop he rents for his business in the city. “If this situation of bad politics persists we will get to a point where democracy will be useless and these youth need to be managed,” he warned.
Bilikisu Alhassan, 31, joined the protests because “there is too much hunger and poverty in the country,” demanding a return to government policies that provided cheaper petrol to Nigerians. “As you can see I am wearing a bathroom slippers to go out, I can’t even wear a good shoe. I used to wear nice clothes before, this has become history,” she said.
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