Nigeria’s security forces on Thursday 1 August used live ammunition and tear gas to break up #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria protesters as thousands joined rallies across the country against the high cost of living – but ultimately, the government too. However, allegedly paid APC stooges also showed up with anti-protest protests.
Nigeria: people have had enough
Africa’s most populous country is struggling with soaring inflation and a sharply devalued naira after APC president Bola Ahmed Tinubu ended a costly fuel subsidy and liberalised the currency more than a year ago to improve the economy.
Tagged #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria, the protest movement won support with an online campaign, but officials had warned against attempts to replicate recent violent demonstrations in Kenya, where protesters forced the government to abandon new taxes.
Many Nigerians are struggling with high costs – food inflation is at 40% and fuel is triple the price from a year ago.
In Kano, the country’s second largest city, protesters set fire to tyres outside the state governor’s office and police responded with tear gas, forcing most of the demonstrators back, an AFP correspondent at the scene said.
However, on social media people have claimed that these were not #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria protesters – but paid political stooges:
Report reaching us from Kano State indicate that, the Anti-Protest thugs allegedly sponsored by the APC are seen vandalizing and looting NCC tech hub because they were not paid after Protesting "No To Protest"#EndBadGovernaceInNigeria#EndBadGovernaceProtest#TinubuMUSTGo pic.twitter.com/KoQdqWuZ95
— PROTESTER'S UPDATE (@Naija_updatez) August 1, 2024
“We are hungry” in Nigeria
“We are hungry – even the police are hungry, the army are hungry,” said factory worker Jite Omoze, 38. “I have two children and a wife, but I can’t feed them anymore,” he said, calling for the government to reduce fuel prices.
Social media accounts showed police firing live ammo at protesters with unconfirmed reports of killings:
Trigger Warning ⏰
The @PoliceNG just hunted down Nigerians with live ammunitions, like wild beasts.
Listen to the cry of the young man as he kept begging:
"Officer wait. Officer please wait wait" 💔
I'm so sick.#EndBadGovernaceInNigeria ✊🏿 🇳🇬pic.twitter.com/6FAWXmtsKN
— 👑S.A.L.A.K.O🕊 (@UnkleAyo) August 1, 2024
Just now. The @PoliceNG have gunned down 5 protesters 2 killed 3 critically injured in kaduna. Let it be on record that the police, kaduna state government, KADVS started violence. #EndBadGovernaceInNigeria pic.twitter.com/rAo6habj1X
— Engr. Khalid Aminu MNSE (@KHALYD16) August 1, 2024
Shooting live ammunitions at unarmed protesters in Abuja
This is EVIL!#EndBadGovernaceInNigeria pic.twitter.com/oPkU2Ez9fa
— Pearls (@MissPearls) August 1, 2024
In Abuja, security forces blocked off roads leading to Eagle Square – one of the planned protest sites – and fired tear gas and set up barbed wire fencing to prevent several hundred protesters from reaching the park. However, the people continued regardless:
People are trooping to the Eagles Square Abuja. Wike provoked this kind of massive crowd. Large number of crowd are marching to Kugbo, Asokoro. Despite the gunshots & the teargas, the people are saying No Retreat! No Surrender!#EndBadGovernanceProtest #EndBadGovernaceInNigeria pic.twitter.com/PnTiD8lL37
— NEFERTITI (@firstladyship) August 1, 2024
Security forces also fired tear gas to disperse crowds in Mararaba on the outskirts of the capital, an AFP reporter said.
Around 1,000 people marched in the mainland area of the economic capital Lagos, where they chanted “Tinubu Ole”, the Yoruba language word for thief:
#EndBadGovernaceInNigeria protest in Lagos, the power of the people is greater than the people in power. #RevolutionNow pic.twitter.com/kmPnSVr5jb
— JuwonSanyaolu (@AyowoleSanyaolu) August 1, 2024
#EndBadGovernanceInNigeria
Local media reported hundreds of #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria protesters also came out in Nigeria’s northeastern city of Maiduguri, and several other states across the country.
“Hunger has brought me out to protest,” said 24-year-old demonstrator Asamau Peace Adams outside the National Stadium in Abuja before tear gas was fired. “It’s all down to bad governance.”
Of course, people were only protesting at the National Stadium after a court order forced them to go there:
https://x.com/HumAngle_/status/1818916518115017085
Once again, anti-#EndBadGovernance protesters turned up – likely as Agent Provocateurs acting to spark the police’s response:
COUNTER-PROTESTERS ARRIVE NATIONAL STADIUM IN ABUJA, NIGERIA
Some demonstrators protesting against the #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria protest have just arrived at the National Stadium in five coastal buses.
Although they acknowledged being affected by the hunger, country's harsh pic.twitter.com/hGFsJGV6b3
— Dco Global News (@Dcoglobalnews) August 1, 2024
On the eve of the protests, Tinubu government officials urged young activists to reject rallies and allow time for his reforms to take hold and improve the economy. But protest leaders, a coalition of civil society groups, vowed to press on with rallies despite legal challenges trying to limit them to public parks and stadiums instead of marches.
By Thursday afternoon, most of Nigeria’s protests appeared to have dwindled except for small groups.
“It’s not over,” said Damilare Adenola, 29, activist and leader of Take It Back group in Abuja. “If the crowd disperses today, we are coming tomorrow.”
The last major protest in Nigeria was in 2020 when young activists rallied against the brutality of the SARS anti-robbery squad in demonstrations that evolved into some of the largest in Nigeria’s modern democracy.
But the rallies ended in bloodshed in Lagos. Rights groups accused the army of opening fire on peaceful protesters, but the military said troops used blanks to break up a crowd defying a curfew. Amnesty International said at least 10 people died.
“The right to peaceful protest”. Really?
Secretary to the Federation of Government George Akume said:
The government of President Tinubu recognises the right to peaceful protest, but circumspection and vigilance should be our watch words.
However, security force’s actions prove this demonstrably false.
Nigeria police and other security agencies, whose primary role is to protect and serve the populace, instead acted as tools of oppression. Their actions were a stark reminder of the pervasive abuse of power and lack of accountability within these institutions.
Police using tear gas, water cannons, and even live ammunition against unarmed protesters is not allowing peaceful protest. Such actions are not only reprehensible but also a blatant violation of the fundamental rights of Nigerians to peaceful assembly and free expression.
Moreover, the government’s failure to address the root causes of the protests speaks volumes about its lack of vision and leadership.
The government on Wednesday listed aid it has offered to alleviate economic pain, including raising the minimum salary levels, delivering grains to states across the country and aid to the most needy.
However, issues such as rampant corruption, high unemployment rates, poor infrastructure, and inadequate pay healthcare have long plagued Nigeria, eroding public trust and confidence.
Rather than implementing meaningful reforms, Nigeria’s government has consistently prioritised its interests over those of the people, leading to widespread disillusionment and frustration. #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria is not the end. It’s likely only the beginning.
Featured image via X – screengrab
Additional reporting via Agence France-Presse
