The Nigerian military has said it will intervene if violence recorded in some states in the ongoing nationwide protest tagged #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria escalates.
The Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa, during a press conference in Abuja, said the military would step in to control the looting and violence being witnessed in some parts of the country.
The #EndBadGovernance protest started on Thursday with no fewer than 17 people feared killed as violence erupted in Abuja, Kano, Niger, Borno, Kaduna and Jigawa states. Businesses and banks were shut, while major roads were deserted.
The protest continued Friday as the police and protesters clashed in different parts of the country.
The CDS noted that while he was aware of the “grievances” of the protesters on the challenging economic difficulties in the country, they must show understanding.
He appealed to Nigerians to be united during “these trying times” and cautioned against looting and vandalisation of property. The defence chief decried the destruction of valuables during the nationwide protests, describing it as “crazy.”
He stressed that the military and other security agencies “will not fold” their arms and “allow this country to be destroyed.”
“The Armed Forces and the entire security agencies will not stand by and see that to continue. We want to warn those that are recalcitrant; those that don’t want to listen that we will not fold our arms and allow this country to be destroyed.
“We will take action and the action we will take, we will take it professionally. Anyone that is caught will be taken to court and will be dealt with.
“There are a bunch of people who believe that it is only through this medium that they will be able to loot, steal and destroy. And that is what they tried to do yesterday but we have arrested most of them that broke into places to steal and they will be prosecuted accordingly.
“We are also going behind to ensure that we also identify those that are involved; there are individuals who are sponsoring them, pushing them to do this, we are going after them,” he added.
Police disperse Abuja protesters, shoot hoodlums
Some Nigerians, including journalists who reconvened on Friday for the protest were injured after police made attempts to disperse them in Abuja.
Punch correspondents gathered that when the demonstration began at the Moshood Abiola Stadium, protesters refused to be confined to a spot as directed by an FCT High Court order, and also ignored police warnings against holding a procession.
As tension mounted and protesters decided to stage a walk, they were ambushed near the National Hospital area, and dispersed with tear gas and live ammunition.
Five injured protesters said they jumped into the bush when the shooting started.
Saturday PUNCH learnt that when other protesters heard about the police harassment, they left the national stadium to reconvene at the Berger Roundabout, but were tear-gassed.
A few minutes after being tear-gassed, the defiant protesters reconvened, vowing not to back down until their demands were met by the Federal Government.
A protester, who gave his name as Tari, criticised the police, saying the group would not be intimidated.
Another protester, Michael Zayi, said if the President had listened to Nigerians earlier, the situation would not have escalated.
He maintained that protesters were committed to demanding better lives for all citizens despite the use of force.
But the Federal Capital Territory Police Command, in a statement on Friday, directed hospitals and medical personnel to report anyone who presented with gunshot wounds to the nearest police station.
The command’s spokesperson, Josephine Adeh, noted that policemen engaged some hoodlums in “a fierce gun duel”, with many escaping with gunshot injuries.
According to him, the hoodlums took advantage of the hunger protest to embark on extortion and assault of innocent citizens along the Lugbe end of the FCT.
Adeh revealed that residents alerted the police to the development.
“Following distress calls about the activities of some hoodlums who took advantage of the ongoing protests, which began on Thursday, 1st August 2024, to block the Lugbe end of the Shehu Musa Yaradua Expressway at about 10pm, embarking on massive robbery and assault of innocent citizens, which led to an exchange of fire with police operatives in the Lugbe area of Abuja, the FCT Command hereby puts all medical personnel in and around the Federal Capital Territory on high alert to the possibility of receiving victims with gunshot wounds,” she said.
Adeh explained that the command was making the request in line with the Compulsory Treatment and Care for Victims of Gunshot Act 2017.
She said the FCT Commissioner of Police, Bennett Igweh, warned against committing crimes under the guise of protest.
Police tear gas demonstrators, journalist in A’Ibom
In Akwa Ibom State, men of the state police command were reported to have fired tear gas canisters at a group of protesters who gathered at the Ibom Plaza to continue the hunger protest for the second day.
A journalist with the New Nigerian Newspapers in Akwa Ibom State was also tear-gassed while interviewing protesters.
One of Punch correspondents reported that the group was singing solidarity songs when the police opened the canisters on them and marched them to Unity Park, along Udoudoma Avenue, where they had been restricted to.
A protester, who spoke on condition of anonymity at the plaza before the police intervened, said they were protesting because life in Nigeria was becoming increasingly unbearable for the average person.
He said, “We are here to protest against the high cost of fuel. In this country, we can do better as a people. We cannot produce crude oil in Nigeria and buy fuel for N900 per litre. This is unacceptable.
“An average person can no longer feed their family because of the current state of affairs. The Federal Government claims to have increased the minimum wage, but it is worthless as it cannot even buy a bag of rice. If you earn N70,000, you need to borrow N20,000 to buy a bag of rice. We want the price of a bag of rice to be reduced to N10,000 and the price of fuel to drop to N100.”
Security operatives brutalise Bauchi PWD in wheelchair
In Bauchi State, security guards at the Government House gate wrestled with the leader of the Initiative for the Liberalisation of Physically Challenged People, Hamza Waziri.
In a trending video on social media, the security agents can be seen hitting the victim while he sits in his wheelchair.
Waziri stated that he was on the street of the government house alongside other physically challenged persons while exercising their constitutional right of peaceful demonstration when they were attacked by the guards.
He said, “I was doing a live video so one of the policemen came to me and said that I had filmed him and they were trying to grab the phone from me. As they were struggling to grab the phone from my hand, they kept brutalising me. They gave me a couple of punches as you can see from the video.
“There were not more than 10 of us, but I was the only one actually standing in front of the Government House just to raise our placards that said, ‘Employment should be for all’, ‘Everybody should be allowed to be employed’, ‘Inclusive Society’.”
Mukhtar Gidado, the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, said an investigation was ongoing into the incident.
Hoodlums attack Yobe Red Cross office, burn vehicles
In Yobe, hoodlums attacked the office of the Red Cross in Gujba, Maiduguri-Potiskum Road, Damaturu, the state capital, destroying property and setting a vehicle ablaze.
Photos and videos obtained by our correspondents showed the vehicle on fire, as well as another Red Cross-branded Landcuiser and a bus damaged with their windows smashed.
When contacted on Friday, the Coordinator of Communications and Advocacy for the Nigerian Red Cross Society, Chima Nwankwo, confirmed the incident to Saturday PUNCH.
“The office was attacked around 1pm this afternoon (Friday). Some of our property, air conditioners, and vehicles were destroyed and they took some away, burnt our cars but there was no casualty,” he said.
He described the assailants as a “mob” with unclear motivations.
“They simply came to vandalise our property,” he said.
Protest organisers disagree with lawyer
The lawyer to the protest organisers, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, in a statement on Friday, called for the suspension of the protest, saying it had been hijacked by hoodlums.
He appealed that the protest be stopped immediately to avoid more casualties.
While berating the President for not engaging the organisers at the earlier stage, Adegboruwa warned that no leader should ever take the citizens for granted again.
He said, “Notice of this protest was given many weeks ago, yet nothing was done to engage the organisers of the protests in order to address the issues raised in their charter of demands. It is the same way that the government ignores several strike notices issued by the Labour unions until they eventually snowball into strike actions. This should not be so.”
But reacting, an activist, Omoyele Sowore, said the call for suspension was Adegboruwa’s view and not that of the organisers.
He said, “No, he has made it clear that it is his private opinion. “
The Director of Mobilisation, Take It Back Movement, Damilare Adenola, said the protest would be called off when their demands had been met.
He said, “We don’t agree. He doesn’t speak for us. The protest will be suspended when the government meet our demands. Anything short of that would not pack us out of the streets.”
Kano, Borno, Katsina, Yobe, Jigawa impose curfew
Following breakdown of law and order, at least five northern states – Kano, Borno, Katsina, Yobe and Jigawa – have declared curfew to restrict the movement of residents.
Following the outbreak of violence in Jigawa State on Thursday, Governor Umar Namadi imposed a 24-hour curfew.
The curfew was, however, relaxed on Friday for two and a half hours for Muslims to observe the Juma’at prayers. Namadi said the violent turn of the peaceful protests was unacceptable and vowed to prevent further chaos.
‘Police arrested 1,154 protesters, killed 21’
Meanwhile, the Organised Civil Society of Nigeria says according to data obtained through its Civil Society Protest Monitoring Situation Room, 21 persons had been killed, while 1,154 others were arrested by the police on the first day of the #EndBadGovernance nationwide protests.
In a press release signed by the Head of the Coordinating Secretariat of the United Action Front of Civil Society, Olawale Okunniyi, on Friday, the group stated that 175 persons sustained injuries.
Okunniyi stated that 18 states, including Lagos, Yobe, Zamfara, Borno and the FCT recorded cases of police brutality and violence, while only eight states, namely Plateau, Taraba, Ebonyi, Edo, Benue, Nasarawa and Ogun, recorded peaceful protests.
The group said the data, received from field volunteers, revealed contrary realities to the assurances given by the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, adding that the “reckless” show of force by the Police was “unacceptable.”
However, some of the official figures released by the police showed that more than 500 protesters were arrested in at least six states.
Out of the figure, 320 protesters were arrested in Kano, 18 in Yobe, 50 in Katsina, 81 in Sokoto, five in Abuja, and 25 in Kaduna, as confirmed by the police commands in the states.
Meanwhile, a coalition of lawyers has secured the release of 15 protesters arrested by the police in different parts of Lagos.
A member of the legal team, Festus Ogun, who confirmed this to Saturday PUNCH, said two of the protesters were arrested on Thursday in the Oregun area of Lagos, while 12 were picked up around Lekki Toll Gate plaza on Friday.
Efforts to reach the Force Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, for the total number of suspects arrested proved abortive, as he did not respond to multiple phone calls, and Whatsapp messages.
LP, NNPP knock Tinubu over killings, arrest
Meanwhile, opposition parties in the country have criticised President Bola Tinubu for failing to condemn the arrest and alleged killings of protesters.
In an exclusive interview, the National Secretary of the New Nigeria People’s Party, Dipo Olaoyoku, said the President failed to take a fatherly role in addressing the organisers’ demands long before the protest began.
He said, “Let me use an analogy to describe what is going on. As a father, we have children. And the Bible tells us that children should respect their parents. The same Bible goes further to say fathers should not provoke their children. Unfortunately, many people don’t read the Bible. You have children saying ‘Father, we are hungry.’ I think a good father should find a means of sitting them down. That is even from home, not to talk of a country with diverse cultures and diverse people.
“All these things are avoidable. I remember sometime in June before travelling out of the country, I saw something like a protest. By the time I came back, I was still seeing the same message all over. So, it is an action that the people gave him adequate notice about. As a father, I would have done everything humanly possible to ensure the protest didn’t happen. But what did the father do instead? He was busy inviting traditional rulers and governors instead of talking directly to his children. It is still not too late. Unfortunately, when you look at the killing, it is most likely to be from the security agencies.”
Similarly, the National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party, Obiora Ifoh, said the continued silence of the President over the mayhem that occurred was baffling.
He wondered why the President would watch while his people were being “harassed, maimed, and killed for demanding their constitutional rights.”