After five days of demonstrations, the ongoing protests in Nigeria, which had at first been peaceful, have turned violent, resulting in casualties and damage to properties. To resolve grievances and restore peace, President Bola Tinubu has called for an end to the protests and encouraged dialogue. The president urged Nigerians, especially the younger generation, to stop protesting, stating that he sympathized with their suffering and annoyance. The president claimed that in certain areas, looters had taken over the protests, and that putting an end to the unrest would make space for discourse.
In addition, President Tinubu expressed his deep grief for the death toll in four northern states and the damage done to private and government-owned structures. However, Tinubu made no mention of reversing his policies, which called for removing the fuel subsidy and abolishing the local currency’s dollar peg. The #EndBadGovernance hashtag was used on Social Media to organize the protests, which were motivated by the recent success of demonstrators in Kenya, who forced the country’s administration to abandon plans to raise taxes.
There have been reports of fatalities in some states.
The heedless looting of stores and supermarkets, according to Tinubu, goes against what the demonstration organizers had promised. On the first day of the protests, Kano City saw the biggest attendance, and police used tear gas and live ammunition to try to scatter the thousands of protesters. There were also reports of looting in the state. Tinubu said that the government would not watch helplessly as a small group of people with a distinct political goal disrupt the Peace of the country. The president’s speech may or may not be able to calm young Nigerians’ frustration, but early signs point to a negative outcome.
With varying degrees of intensity and consequences, the protests have expanded to several states, including Ibadan, Osun, Jos, Lagos, Kaduna, and Kano. Protests have not been violent in certain locations, such Kwara and Ibadan, but there have been reports of vandalism in other locations, like Kano. Also, there have been reports of fatalities and injuries from the protests in states like Niger and Kaduna. However, police and other military forces have been sent in as part of the government’s response to maintain order and stop the situation from getting worse.
Kaduna protesters defy a 24-hour curfew on the sixth day.
Authorities in Borno, Jigawa, Kano, Yobe, and Kaduna imposed 24-hour curfews after blaming “hoodlums” of violence as the unrest that broke out during the nationwide protests grew more intense. On the sixth day, demonstrators in Kaduna State took to the streets to continue their action, defying a 24-hour curfew. In a viral video on social media, protestors in Kano went on to ignore the lockdown order and a few of those that assembled in the outskirts of the city on August 2nd and 3rd were videotaped waving Russian flags, calling on Russia’s government for help.
However, in an official statement, the Russian Embassy in Nigeria denied any connection to the demonstrators in northern Nigeria who were spotted flying Russian flags. The embassy made it clear that these acts are not indicative of any official Russian government policy or stance. This reaction coincides with rumours and worries about possible outside interference in Nigerian affairs, considering Russia’s purported engagement in other West African countries like Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso. General Christopher Mustapha, the Chief of Defence Staff, has sent out a strong warning, declaring that flying foreign flags while protesting is an act of treason.
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Given the current state of the Protest in the country’s north, one of the prominent activists, Martins Vincent Otse, also known as VeryDarkMan, who was seen on the street of Abuja supporting the movement, has urged Nigerians to cease the demonstrations. He stated that violent offenders have taken over the protests and warned that they have beyond the hunger protest. Martins urged the authorities to act to resolve this issue in the impacted states to prevent further uncalled scenarios. Businesses in Lagos and several areas of Abuja that had shuttered during the initial protests started to reopen in the meantime.