June 12: Police tear-gas protesters in Abuja

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IGP Disu

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Nigerian security forces fired tear gas at protesters marching against insecurity and economic hardship in the capital Abuja, as the country marked democracy day with a public holiday and closed offices.

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Read Also: Video: Sowore collapses after police tear-gassed Abuja protesters

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The protests came less than two weeks after teachers in major Nigeria cities demonstrated against a string of kidnappings and attacks targeting schools.

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In an early morning televised broadcast, President Bola Tinubu vowed to “defend and strengthen” democracy.

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He honoured dozens of people he said “suffered persecution… so that we have democracy today.”

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On the streets, however, hundreds of people protesting widespread insecurity and economic hardship in Africa’s biggest democracy were met with a heavy security presence. Police and soldiers formed barricades to block their march toward the presidential villa.

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The security officials then fired tear gas after the protesters refused to divert their route.

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“They chased us, opened tear gas and they are just trying to just humiliate us for no reasons,” one protester, Ikechukwu Ogbonna, 36, told AFP.

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Videos on social media showed activist and former presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore lying on the ground on the street after the teargas was fired.

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“Operatives of the Nigeria Police Force deployed a strange gas at the protest ground, at close range which entered my lungs and left me struggling to breathe before I eventually collapsed,” he said in a social media post.

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He told AFP the government had been incapable of solving the country’s insecurity challenges, calling for Tinubu to resign.

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President Bola Tinubu, up for re-election in January, declared a nationwide security emergency last November as his administration scrambled to respond to a wave of mass kidnappings and violence.

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In the economic hub Lagos, hundreds of anti-government demonstrators gathered under the Ikeja Bridge — a popular protest ground in the state — where they faced a tense standoff with pro-government marchers who later joined them.

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The anti-government protesters demanded the rescue of more than 80 students and staff kidnapped from their schools in Borno and Oyo states.

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“Schools are still open every single day, students are still thinking about what is going on, and this must stop immediately,” said Afrobeats star Falz, who joined the protest.

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