Bad governance protest shuts businesses, gets bloody

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At least six protesters have been reportedly shot dead, with many others sustaining various degrees of injuries on the first day of the planned 10 day hardship protest in Suleja, Niger State.

Death occurred as security operatives forcibly dispersed protesters that held travelers down for several hours on the Abuja-Kaduna highway, eye witnesses told our correspondents.

One of the victims identified as Yahaya Nda Isah of Hassan Dalatu Road, Suleja, was reportedly hit by a stray bullet while on his bike in front of the Suleja Police ‘A’ division.The deceased was said to be on his bike without joining the ongoing protest when the bullet fired to disperse the protesters hit him on his chest, and he died on the spot.

Another victim identified as Mallam Abu also died on the spot alonside three other people shot at the same scene. Another two were said to have been shot at the Suleja Junction on Abuja-Kaduna road.

Spokesperson of the Niger State Police Command, SP Wasiu Abiodun, said some hoodlums attempted to set the Tafa LGA ablaze, but security operatives dispersed them.

He said, “The miscreants attempted to set the Tafa LGA ablaze, they were dispersed by the Police and military. Kaduna Road and toll gate was cleared.”

In Maidugri, Borno State, four people were reported dead, three in Kaduna State and one in Kebbi State as police and hoodlums involved in the protests clashed. State governments in Yobe, Kano, Borno declared curfew to arrest deteriorating social situation.

Aside from those killed during the protest, a curfew was also declared in Borno and Kaduna states, as the protests, which started on a peaceful note, turned violent later.

The protest came after months of public outcry against galloping inflation in the country, triggered by pulling of fuel subsidy and devaluation of the Naira by the new administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Besides, all promises of parallel application of the withdrawn subsidy funds are not visible as social services like education and public healthcare continue to get increasingly unaffordable in the face of brazen profligacy by the political leaders.

The Oracle Today reports that a loaf of bread which cost about N300 before President Tinubu came to office a year ago now costs about N2000. Fuel Jumped from N197 per liter to national average of about N800. The value of the Naira against the US dollar plummeted from about N400 to near N2000.

The combination of Naira devaluation and high cost of fuel translated to high cost of manufactured goods, leading to galloping inflation and acute hunger among millions of Nigerians already classified by the World Poverty Clock as the poorest in the world.

Promises by government that local refineries would quickly come online to address the high cost of fuel have proved a ruse as no refinery in the country currently produces the highly demanded petrol; and diesel which is locally produced is not cheaper than imported ones.

The resolution to acute scarcity of foreign exchange and high cost of available volumes is not also in sight as the country’s crude oil output which forms the main source of forex income has continued to underperform.

Interest rates for borrowed funds have continued to rise since President Tinubu came to power.

The Central Bank of Nigeria raised its benchmark lending rate by 50 basis points to 26.75%, marking the fourth consecutive hike this year. This decision follows increases of 150 basis points in May, 200 basis points in March, and 400 basis points in February, the largest in 17 years.

Inflation hit 34.2% in June, driven by fuel subsidy removal and a 70% in Naira depreciation.

Aggrieved protesters on Thursday said they were out to demand action from the government to end the high cost of living and hunger. They chanted solidarity songs and carried placards with various inscriptions such as ‘Restore fuel subsidy and reduce the price of petroleum products now’, ‘We are dying of hunger in our own country’, ‘We are suffering so much now’ and ‘We can no longer feed our children’, among others.

The protesters in Lagos tossed a non-negotiable 15-point demand at the government for the protest to be called off. The demands include scrapping the 1999 Constitution and replace it with a people-made constitution for the Federal Republic of Nigeria through a Sovereign National Conference.

They also called for a unicameral legislation at the center to disband the Senate and keep the House of Representatives (HoR) on a part-time basis.

They demanded a minimum wage of N250,000 monthly, investment in education, education grants, and free and compulsory education for children across Nigeria.

They also demanded the unconditional release and compensation Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and all EndSARS and political detainees, demilitarization of the South-East. They also called for recovery of all public-owned enterprises sold to government officials and cronies.

The hunger protesters also demanded reinstatement of a corruption-free subsidy regime to reduce hunger, starvation and multidimensional poverty; probe past and present Nigerian leaders who have looted the treasury, recovered their loot, and deposited it in a special account to fund education, healthcare, and infrastructure.

The demand also included restructuring of Nigeria to accommodate Nigeria’s diversity, resource control, decentralization and regional development.

The protesters demanded government to end banditry, terrorism, and violent crimes; reform security agencies to stop continuous human rights violations and duplication of security agencies and enhance the physical security of Nigerian citizens.

They also called for establishment of a Special Energy Fund immediately to drive massive, corruption-free power sector development; immediate reconstitution of the Nigerian Electoral Body to remove corrupt individuals and partisan-backed appointments to manipulate elections; massive investment in public works and industrialization will help employ Nigeria’s teeming youths.

The protesters also called for massive shake-up in the Nigerian judiciary to remove cabals of corrupt generations of judges and judicial officers that continue denying everyday citizens across to real justice.

They also demanded electoral system that accommodates diaspora voting.

Across the country, businesses shut down and gunshots rent the air as protesting groups and security agencies clashed. Many people have also been arrested while some were peacefully dispersed in some states, especially in the Southwest region of the country where President Bola Tinubu holds strong social and political support base.

In Lagos State, mobile policemen deployed at the Admiralty Lekki Phase I Toll Gate managed to restore normalcy after attempted eruption of violent protest.

The protesters displaying placards to express their grievances, were dispersed by the police.

Member of Civil Society Organisation, Mr Kehinde Stevens called on government to listen to the voice of the people “at this challenging time of our country.”

Formal and semi-formal businesses in Lagos State including shops, supermarkets, malls and banks closed for business as cautionary measure on the first day of the protest; while small informal players including restaurants were opened to customers.

However in a twist, the Lagos State Police Command arrested two suspects and recovered a large cache of weapons in the Mushin area of the state.

Police Public Relations Officer, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, on Thursday stated that the tactical team responded to a call about armed men on Agoro Street, Mushin, around 1 am; and subsequently arrested Sherrif Mustapha, 42, and Suturat Lateef, 28, while one other suspect escaped.

“This morning at about 1am, responding to a distress call about the presence of armed men on Agoro Street, Mushin, our tactical team based in Surulere swiftly moved in and arrested Sherrif Mustapha ‘m’ aged 42 and Suturat Lateef ‘f’ aged 28 while one other escaped.

“The suspects led the police to 1, Moshalashi Street, Mushin where the following were recovered: two AK 47 rifles, one K2 assault rifle, one Red Rufer rifle, three pump action rifles, two locally made single barrel pistols, five magazines, ⁠57 live cartridges and ⁠70 5.56 live ammunition.

Other items recovered from the suspects, according to the police, include 27 9mm ammunition, one expended 5.56 ammunition, one dagger, three walkie talkies, and nine international passports.

It is not clear if the arms and ammunition recovered from the suspects were meant for the hunger protest that started later in the day.

It was a twist in Bayelsa State as supporters of the state government and hunger protesters staged separate marches across the state, leading to skirmishes.

The team of police officers monitoring the situation repelled on the end bad governance protesters who were attacked from behind with bottles, planks of wood and other weapons by government supporters.

The protesters marched through the Yenagoa-Mbiama Road and the Melford Okilo Road defying the morning showers to register their grievances.

In Rivers State, the capital, Port Harcourt, went cold and deserted amidst the protest.

Several pressure groups were seen chanting and bearing placards that communicate their grievances. Even some young men who did not join the protesters carried placards within their residential environment to demand an end to “Bad Governance.”

In a letter sent in reply to the Inspector General of Police’s invitation on Tuesday, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa (SAN) had given Rainbow Roundabout and Pantani Stadium as the venues for the Port Harcourt rallying points for the protesters.

The protesters, numbering over 2,000 had defied the morning rain to march from Port Harcourt Pleasure Park, located along Aba Road, Port Harcourt, to the Government House, to register their grievances over the hardship being experienced in the country.

Governor Fubara said: “Our youths, I know that you are angry; I agree with you that there is hunger. We agree but because we preach good governance, hunger will disappear very soon. Please, like I said, we are going to support you.

“I am not against your protest, but we will not support any violent protest. We will not support anything that will destroy our state. We will not join force with the enemy of progress. I will support you, I will support you. Before you leave here, I will give you small thing, at least, to help you buy ‘pure water’ and bread.”

Meanwhile, the governor expressed worry that a lot of people were planning to take advantage of the peaceful protest to cause crisis in the state.

Meanwhile, in Borno State, the government declared a 24-hour curfew in a measure to contain nationwide hunger protests from getting out of hand.

In Cross River State, the police allegedly pounced on protesters and observers, arresting journalists and other protesters in Calabar, the capital.

According to reports, several journalists including the managing editor of the online newspaper CrossRiverWatch, Mr Jonathan Ugbal, and activists were beaten, handcuffed, and taken by security agents to unknown locations in Calabar.

The journalists were following some activists around the popular Mary Slessor roundabout in Calabar, where a handful of protesters had gathered on Thursday, the first day of the 10-day planned nationwide protest.

Protesters burnt down Tafa local government secretariat, Sabon Wuse, along Kaduna-Abuja expressway, burnt two cars, vandalized two others and looted valuables in the secretariat. The development, it was gathered, created a traffic logjam along the ever-busy expressway before a combination of security agencies mobilized to the area and dispersed the miscreants.

Police Public Relations Officer of the state, DSP Wasiu Abiodun, said eleven persons had already been arrested and that the highway was now free for traffic.

In Maiduguri, Borno State, four persons said to be staff of Kime filling station around Bolori junction of the metropolis, lost their lives to the protest as their bodies lay in the pool of their blood.

Police imposed a 24-hour curfew on the state, citing violence that escalated in the nationwide protests and the bomb blast that took place in Kawuri village of Konduga Local Government Area of the state which left 20 people dead and 16 injured less than 24 hours before commencement of the protest.

Chairman of Independent Markerters Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, Borno State branch, Alhaji Mohammed Kuluwu, confirmed the killing of four persons at Kime filling station in the afternoon, noting he had been been making contact with the Director of the affected station, but couldn’t get his phone line to ascertain details of what led to the killing of the victims.

But, some other witnesses insisted the victims were felled by stray bullets fired at protesters whose protest against hardship in the country had turned violent.

The protest also turned violent in Kaduna, leaving no fewer than three youths dead and many other protesters injured.

An eyewitness said the number of protesters, mostly youths and the unemployed, which had outnumbered security operatives, marched from the Rigasa area and from the Abakwa end, towards the Sir Kashim Ibrahim House, the official residence and office of the state governor.

A surviving protester, who craved anonymity, said: “I think the security operatives near Government House were threatened by our large number. Suddenly, a vehicle they use to spray hot water on protesters came speeding towards us from the Government House axis and sprayed us with hot water, then another security vehicle came on speed from the 44 Reference Hospital end.”

Meanwhile, reports indicated that the office of the Kaduna State Traffic Agency, KASTLEA, was touched by the protesters. Major streets in the state capital were deserted, while markets and shops were closed. Schools and other vocational training institutions, also remained closed.

Spokesperson of the Kaduna State Police Command, ASP Mansir Hassan, accused members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, also known as Shi’ites, of turning the peaceful protest violent. He said they attacked a Police Armoured Personnel Carrier and some of their operatives, warning that the police would not allow hoodlums break law and order in Kaduna State.

He also clarified that the number of personnel deployed for the protest in the state was 2,500 and not 25,000 earlier reported, saying the command has arrested 25 suspects involved in attacking state-owned agencies.

In Kebbi, a businessman lost his life in the protest in Yauri local government area, having been hit in his shop where he sold plastics. Marine police that engaged the protesters allegedly fired bullets at the protesters, one of which killed the innocent plastic dealer in his shop.

To prevent the protest from turning violent, Yobe State government yesterday imposed a 24-hour curfew on Potiskum, Gashua and Nguru areas of the state after some hoodlums reportedly cashed in on the harship protest to loot government property.

Special Adviser to the Governor on Security matters, Brig. Gen Dahiru Abdussallam, retd, in a statement yesterday, said the curfew would be fully enforced.

“Yobe State Government has considered the security situation in Potiskum, Gashua, and Nguru towns where some hoodlums are taking advantage of the protest to vandalize and loot government and private properties.

“In view of the above, therefore, the state government has imposed a 24-hour curfew on Potiskum, Gashua and Nguru. The public is hereby advised to abide by the curfew and stay at home for peace to reign in these areas and the state at large.

“Security agencies have been directed to ensure enforcement and full compliance of the curfew,” the statement read.

In Kano, the situation turned violent as protesters embarked on a looting spree, which compelled Governor Abba Yusuf to declare a 24-hour curfew with immediate effect.

The governor, who announced the curfew while addressing newsmen at Government House, said the action became imperative to ensure full protection of lives and property in the state as hoodlums and thugs hijacked the process.

He said the decision was taken after an emergency state security council meeting and directed all security agencies to ensure full and immediate compliance.

The governor said: “It is with a heavy heart that I address you today regarding the unfortunate events that transpired during the recent peaceful protest.

“You may recall that on July 31, 2024 we organized a town hall meeting with stakeholders, religious leaders, leaders of business community, traditional leaders, academia, technocrats, youth and women’s groups and civil society organizations.

‘’During the meeting, I acknowledged that the protest is a constitutional right. However, I urged the protesters to conduct themselves in a peaceful and orderly manner and I expressed my intention to receive their complaint and assured them that their grievances would be forwarded to Mr. President and Commander-in-Chief for possible attention.

“Our goal was to facilitate a constructive dialogue and address the issues raised by our fellow citizens. Similarly, this morning (yesterday), we received the representatives of the peaceful protesters where they submitted their demand in writing which I promised to deliver to Mr. President.

“While I commend the vast majority of peaceful protesters who stated their concerns responsibly, it is however, regrettable to say that the whole protest that was meant to be a demonstration of democratic right to voice our concerns was hijacked by thugs and hoodlums who embarked on looting of business premises, government properties and maiming of innocent citizens.

“Such miscreants have become persistent in wanton destruction of private and public properties aided by enemies of the state who have been reported to the security agencies a few days back.

“After exhaustive deliberations during emergency state security council meeting, it was collectively decided that 24-hour curfew should be put in place to prevent further looting and vandalism of shops, including indiscriminate killing and maiming of innocent citizens.’’

Angry protesters had set ablaze tyres in front of Government House to express their displeasure over bad governance.

The protesters also pelted security agents stationed in the area with stones, and it took the interventions of security agencies who shot tear gas into the air to disperse the angry protesters.

The hoodlums, wielding dangerous weapons, hijacked and took advantage of the protest to loot facilities and properties, such as Nigerian Communication Commission, NCC, office located in Audu Bako Secretariat, Kano Printing Press, shops, banks and street lights and foods, among others.

No fewer than 11 journalists covering the protest narrowly escaped attack by the hoodlums who hijacked the protest in the state.

Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports have it that two persons were feared killed, with several others sustaining injuries during the protest.

Although the governor confirmed that there were indiscriminate killing and mayhem on innocent citizens, he did not, however, give the number of those killed, while the Kano State police command was, at press time, yet to officially confirm the number of casualties and arrest made in the state.

In Abuja, the military was forced by violent protesters to take over the popular AYA-Kubwa highway, which provides access to the biggest housing estate in Africa, Gwarimpa, and leads to other parts of Northern Nigeria.

Although the protesters started their demonstration peacefully in the morning, they later became violent and exploitative as the protest gathered momentum later in the day.

The unruly protesters, made up mostly of street urchins and criminals, started by blocking the road and molesting motorists on service lanes of the ten-lane highway, and subsequently extended their heinous trade to the centre of the road, blocking it and making bonfires, to stop motorists and extort money from them.

They also brazenly ignored the presence of policemen and civil defence operatives, attacking motorists and passers-by who did not pay them what they requested.

As the hoodlums blocked the highway and extorted motorists, they also beat up those who refused to part with cash.

The information immediately spread to the military authorities, which immediately dispatched troops and armoured trucks to take over the highway.

As the military forces arrived, they cut off the highway at Katampe roundabout with an armoured truck to check incoming and outgoing movements.

The military placed similar armoured trucks and personnel at different and strategic locations to push the mob away.

But the troops could not immediately clear the road of the huge stones, tree trunks and burnt tyres as well as other impediments which the hoodlums erected to stall free movement before the military arrived.

The protesters, led by the convener of the Take it Back Movement, Deji Adeyanju, had earlier stormed the Moshood Abiola Stadium which the court order secured by the federal government less than 24 hours to the protest restricted, wielding placards with varied inscriptions.

Soon after they got to the stadium, pro-government protesters, conveyed in at least 12 Toyota Coaster buses arrived in the area, this set off a confrontation not only between the pro and anti-hunger protesters but also with the police.

The protesters soon moved into the streets, with the police firing teargas at them, thus setting off a clash that made the protest violent.

Reacting to the protest in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, again called on those protesting against President Bola Tinubu’s government to come for dialogue, saying the government was ready to listen to them and also walk them through some governance issues they might not have been privy to.

He spoke while presenting staff of office to the four newly appointed graded chiefs of Karu, Kwali, Pai and Yaba in the territory.

Commending protesters in the FCT for being non-violent, Wike urged them to continue to resist those who would want to destroy the nation.

He said: “Let me take this opportunity to commend the people, the youths of Abuja for not being violent. We have said severally that it is better to dialogue with the government and keep the peace. He who makes peace will at the end of the day enjoy the dividends of peace.

‘’I still want to talk to our people that we are still ready to sit down and dialogue with them and let them know things that they may not know because information is power. I commend the protesters in Abuja who have refused to be violent.’’

In Lagos, the protest was generally peaceful as security agents, led by the police, led the protesters in a process from Ikeja to Ojota, the venue designated by a court order two days earlier.

Meanwhile, amid the protest yesterday, President Bola Tinubu met with the Minister of the FCT, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

In Katsina State, reports have it that hoodlums loot shops, burn NSCDC van during protest.

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