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BENEDICTA BASSEY gives insights into how the nationwide protest against bad governance that rocked states across the country panned out on day one, Thursday
No fewer than 17 persons were feared killed in Abuja, Kano, Niger, Borno, Kaduna and Jigawa during the day one of #Endbadgovernance protest held nationwide on Thursday.
One person was shot dead in Abuja and Kano, two killed in Jigawa, six others were reportedly gunned down by security forces in Niger, while four died in Borno and three in Kaduna.
An angry Nigerian protester also stripped himself naked in Lagos in the course of the protest.
The rally which began peacefully yesterday took a violent turn in some cities leading to violent confrontations between the police and the protesters.
Businesses, banks, shopping plazas and some markets did not open for fear of the protests escalating into a crisis.
In Abuja, the demonstration claimed a victim, who was shot dead along the Kubwa expressway.
According to an eyewitness account, a man was gunmed down after the protesters became violent and blocked the highway.
The eyewitness identified simply as Bridget recounted, ‘’I was waiting for a bus on the expressway when the protesters in their numbers blocked the highway and started harassing motorists. But as they became violent, the police fired live shots, killing the young man. Everybody took off on seeing the man fall."
Also, a group of protesters converged on the Eagles Square, chanting the old “Arise, O Compatriots” national anthem and demanding an end to bad governance in the country.
In response, the security operatives fired a couple of teargas canisters to douse the protesters, who shouted in defiance.
Shortly after, the Minister of State for Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande, arrived at the scene and attempted to address the protesters, who shouted him down with chants of “hunger dey.”
However, he called for calm, stating that he wasn’t attempting to shut down the protest but to encourage them to be civil.
“I’m not here to fight you, I’m not here to ask you not to protest, it is your right. As I said, I have been to over 100-500 protests,’’ Olawande stated.
But things quickly escalated upon the minister’s exit as the operatives fired more toxic gas and pepper spray, and a female protester confronted the police officers, holding up her baby and daring them to shoot.
She told journalists that she showed up at the protest with her baby after bandits killed her husband in Katsina.
“I came to protest the hardship in Nigeria and the police are shooting teargas at us. Do they also want to kill my baby? People cannot eat. Things are hard,” the woman said.
The policemen in a helicopter also reportedly fired teargas at a group of protesters occupying the city gate.
Some protesters had earlier gathered at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium as early as 6am.
They later moved to the Eagle Square when they learnt some protesters were being harassed by security forces and five bus-loads of pro-government protesters were brought to the stadium.
The placard-carrying youths said they were opposed to the hunger protest.
But one of them admitted that they were promised N5,000 each to stage a counter-protest.
In Kano State, hoodlums went berserk, looting the NCC Industrial Park and other places.
“They (organisers) picked us up and said they would give us N5,000 to protest against these people. I have collected N2,000 and I am waiting for my balance. I am hungry but the money given to him would not solve my problem,” he said.
The Director of Mobilisation, Take It Back Movement, Damilare Adenola, said the protest would continue until President Bola Tinubu acceded to their demands.
Protesters' Demands
The protesters have made it abundantly clear that are demanding the reversal of petrol pump price to N100/litre, an end to insecurity, the closing of IDP camps and electoral reform, among other things.
Adenola said, “The various orders of court restricting protesters to particular locations are an aberration. Our presence here today is an announcement that we have been oppressed for too long. Today, we have risen.
“We are saying that unless President Bola Tinubu accedes to our demands, we will remain on the streets. We want to see the President on the streets.”
One of the organisers of the protest, Michael Lenin, said it would continue on Friday (today) regardless of the intimidation by the security agencies.
He said, “The protest will continue. We are not intimidated by what the security agencies do. This government does not appear like one ready to listen to the citizens with the way protesters were attacked today. We are resolute; until he meets our demands, we will remain on the streets.“
Elsewhere in Abuja, protesters, including women and young children, blocked the main road linking Karu-Kurudu and Karshi, chanting “Bamayi Tinubu”, meaning “We don’t want Tinubu.”
Two persons were reportedly hit by stray bullets at the popular sharp corner in Mararaba, Karu Local Government Area in Nasarawa State, a suburban border town to Abuja where most civil servants working in the FCT live.
Sounds of gunshots were heard as the protesters occupied the Abuja-Keffi highway and setting up bonfires.
As the tension and confrontation between the security agencies and protesters increased, the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, called for dialogue, saying the government was willing to discuss with the youths.
Wike, who was later spotted at the Presidential Villa, appealed to protesters in the nation’s capital to “sit down” with the government and pursue dialogue, describing it as a better peace process.
He said, “We have seen several times that it is better to dialogue; it is better to sit down and iron out issues with the government. I want you to continue with that peace process, and he who makes peace, will at the end of the day enjoy the dividends of peace.”
In Niger State, about six people were reportedly killed by the police while 11 persons were arrested for allegedly attempting to set ablaze Tafa LGA secretariat during the protest.
The command’s spokesperson, SP Waisu Abiodun, disclosed in Minna on Thursday that some hoodlums partially burnt part of the secretariat and looted valuable items.
Abiodun said the hoodlums vandalised and partially set ablaze the secretariat, burnt two vehicles as well as vandalised two others.
He said the hoodlums went further to loot valuables inside offices in the secretariat, adding that in the process, police and other security agencies responded to the scene.
The spokesman further said that the 11 suspects were nabbed with different dangerous weapons, including firearms while others were dispersed from the scene and some of the looted items were recovered.
Also, the Civil Society Situation Room said two protesters were shot dead by security operatives at the Kaduna State Government House, and six in Niger.
The group’s Head of Coordinating Secretariat, Olawale Okunniyi, in a statement revealed that several other protesters were injured.
He said, “Report reaching the Civil Society Situation Room, monitoring incidents and ethical compliance with civil protests during the nationwide citizens’ mass protests on hunger and hardships in Nigeria from Kaduna, have it on good authority that two protesters have been shot dead by security agents at the Kaduna State Government House, Badikko.
“Again, at least six protesters have also been reportedly killed while some sustained injuries in the ongoing protest in Suleja, Niger State.
“The victims were said to have been killed while security operatives were struggling to dislodge a group of protesters who mounted barricade on a section of Abuja-Kaduna highway.”
In another development, four people were reportedly killed after suspected Boko Haram members infiltrated the protest over the rising cost of living in Borno State.
Thirty-four others were said to have sustained injuries in the incident.
In a statement on Thursday, Farouq Lawal, Commissioner of Police in Borno State, said the commander of the Explosive Ordnance Device Base 13 was “swiftly” deployed to the scene.
“Boko Haram militants infiltrated a protest, killing four individuals and injuring 34 others,” Lawal said.
Following the outbreak of violence in Kano, which resulted in the death of one Ismael Musa, Governor Abba Yusuf slammed a 24-hour curfew on the city, as he blamed the riot on ‘’enemies of progress.”
Another victim who was reportedly hit by a stray bullet was rushed to the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital for treatment.
The protest took a violent turn in the ancient city around 11.30am when suspected hoodlums broke into a food store located at Sarari Quarters, Dala LGA, where they looted rice, flour, spaghetti and assorted food items.
The News Agency of Nigeria also reported that the Nigeria Communications Commission office in Kano was torched by hoodlums.
The newly constructed office was scheduled for inauguration next week.
The state Police Command’s spokesman, Abdullahi Kiyawa, confirmed that about 260 criminals were arrested via a statement.
Kiyawa stated: “These individuals engaged in acts of violence, destruction, looting and causing harm to innocent civilians, resulting in the destruction of public and private properties.
“In a swift and efficient response to these criminal activities, a total of 269 suspects responsible for destruction, looting and instigating chaos under the guise of the nationwide hunger protest were arrested."
Also, the Kaduna State Police Command confirmed an attack on the offices of the State Traffic and Law Environmental Authority and the Investment Promotion Agency by suspected hoodlums.
In Gombe State, one person was feared killed during the rally but the Commissioner of Police, Hayatu Usman, denied the incident.
He said his officers recovered some looted items from criminals who operated in the disguise of the end bad governance protests.
It was gathered that two persons were reportedly killed while many others sustained injuries after police fired live ammunition and teargas to disperse protesters in Jigawa State.
The protest took place in over 10 LGAs across the state with reports of destruction and looting of government property.
Reports said one of the victims was shot in front of the Government House, Dutse, while the other was killed at Shiwarin town when the protesters attempted to close the Maiduguri-Kano Road.
This was as hoodlums hijacked the hunger protest in some parts of the state, burning a patrol van of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.
Following the development, an activist, Omoyele Sowore, condemned the killing and harassment of protesters across the country, adding that the citizens have the right to a peaceful protest.
Sowore said, “The images we are seeing of peaceful protesters being attacked and harassed, and in some cases shot dead, is sad and condemned. People have a right to peaceful protests. It is a right that is globally recognised and codified in our laws.”
He slammed the government for failing to provide economic opportunities among others for the citizens.
Protesters in their hundreds trooped out in Lagos on Thursday calling for an end to economic hardship and bad governance in Nigeria.
The protesters, largely youths, marched from the Ikeja Under Bridge, where they had converged as early as 8am to the Gani Fawehinmi Park in Ojota around 11am.
The Lagos State High Court had restricted the protesters to two locations in Ojota but the protesters came out in Alausa as well to ventilate their grievances.
They held several placards calling for ‘End Bad Government in Nigeria’, ‘Reverse fuel subsidy’, ‘Tax the rich’, and ‘Reverse electricity tariff’ among others.
The protesters marched peacefully in the areas monitored by our reporter but it was, however, gathered that police officers fired teargas to disperse some protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate.
In Ojota, the protesters were led by the National Coordinator of the Take It Back Movement, Juwon Sanyaolu, and the National Coordinator of the Education Rights Campaign, Hassan Taiwo.
Sanyaolu said the protest was to register the grievances of the “hungry people” in Lagos and Nigeria.
He added, “People whose families can no longer afford a single balanced diet in a day due to the harsh economic policies forced on all of us by the Bola Tinubu-led government.
“It is important to say that this protest will continue till August 10 and beyond until the government reverses all the anti-people policies it has introduced.
"The FG must immediately reverse fuel subsidy removal, reverse fee hikes in schools and give students grants, not loans that they cannot pay back, because people who cannot feed themselves cannot pay any loan in this economy as you can see. “
Residents of Enugu State observed sit-at-home to protest hunger and bad governance in Nigeria as the streets were empty of protesters on Thursday when the protest took off nationwide.
In Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, some shops that were shut on Thursday morning opened for business as the situation remained peaceful and calm.
Meanwhile, hoodlums tried to hijack the protest in some areas on the outskirts of Benin City, the Edo State capital.
In Country Home, off Sapele Road, some suspected hoodlums mounted bonfires as early as 6:30am and were collecting N500 from those who wanted to cross into the town.
There were similar situations in Okagbare, Ikueniro, Upper Mission Road and others. At Iduowina, behind Bethel Faith Academy, a trailer load of rice allegedly belonging to the state government was looted.
All the banks and other business outlets on the major roads were also closed for business, while there was a heavy security presence in government buildings.
In Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, placard-carrying youths numbering over 500 marched through the busy Aba Road to the Government House.
Some of the inscriptions on their placards read, ‘We say no to bad governance in Nigeria’, ‘There is hunger in the land’, ‘Nigeria is too rich to be poor’, ‘Tinubu must go’, ‘A cup of rice is N400, how can the common man survive?’, among others.
In response, Governor Siminalayi Fubara said: “I thank you for being peaceful. I thank you for coming. I feel your pains. I want to assure you that I will deliver your message to the President.
“Here in Rivers State, we will do everything to make life better. But all we need from you is to support the Federal Government. We know there is hunger but just be patient with the government. I will give you a small thing for you to drink pure water.”
But in reply to his ‘pure water’ comments, the youths chorused, “No, we don’t need your money, keep your money, we want good governance in Nigeria. Tinubu must go.”
Efforts by the governor to pacify them and to explain what he meant fell on deaf ears, as they continued to talk back in annoyance.
A handful of journalists, activists were beaten up, handcuffed and taken by security agents to unknown destinations in Calabar, Cross River State.
Reacting, human rights lawyer James Ibor, said, “We challenge the authorities to produce any evidences that Ugbal and others were violent.
“I strongly suspect that the security agents are those attached to the state governor Senator Bassey Otu. This is very sad. It is a disappointment and we call on Governor Otu to order the release of these journalists and activists whom I believe strongly are in government custody.”
