DESPITE promises by the Inspector-General Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to protect participants at the ‘End Bad Governance’ protest from harassment and attack, the first day of the protest turned violent in Abuja, the nation’s capital after the security operatives attacked the protesters and prevented them from demonstrating in some designated locations. The ICIR’s Nurudeen Akewushola and Mustapha Usman report.
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It all started as a peaceful demonstration in Abuja, as protesters gathered at the entrance of Moshood Abiola Stadium in the early hours of Monday, August 1, which marked day one of the 10-day protest.
Many offices in the city were shut, and the streets appeared deserted due to fear that gripped the city hours to the protest.
For instance, in Wuse, Secretariat, Central Area, and Lugbe, a few cars plied the roads, with many shops and businesses shut.
The ICIR team began by visiting some of the initially designated locations for the protest in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), such as Unity Fountain and Eagle Square. While few or no protesters were present, the locations were heavily guarded by police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence officers, and military personnel armed with ammunition.
In addition, entrances to Eagle Square and Unity Fountain, like Berger and AYA, were heavily militarized with armed police officers and soldiers.
In the early hours of the day at Eagle Square, about 20 Nigerians chanted different songs and demanded that President Bola Tinubu’s administration #Endsbadgovernance and return subsidies on fuel.
However, the Nigerian police tear-gassed the peaceful protesters, including a nursing mother, who had an infant in her hands.
Speaking with journalists, the woman who refused to give her name, claimed to have lost her husband to bandits recently in Katsina and was prompted by the crisis to join the masses protesting against the ugly situation of the country.
The ICIR reported that insecurity, inflation and a hike in the cost of living among other reasons pushed many Nigerians to stage the nationwide protest.
Tinubu had stopped fuel subsidy and devalued the local currency, the naira, thus causing a spiral hike in food and commodity prices.
Protest kicked off at MKO Abiola Stadium
Many protesters gathered at the MKO Abiola Stadium wielding placards carrying various inscriptions such as’ Hunger is Enough,’ and ‘End Bad Governance in Nigeria’ among others. They marched to Eagle Square at about 11 am.
The protesters had assembled at the stadium since around 7 am, with dozens of police and military personnel on the ground.
The protest was peaceful at the stadium as the protesters were chanting and voicing their demands. The protesters also appealed to Tinubu to reverse some of his policies and also cut the cost of governance.
Lamenting about the country’s economic hardship, one of the demonstrators, Prince Ojoka, noted that “the protest is to show that we are not happy and not okay with the policies of the government.”
He emphasised the constitutional rights given to the citizens to demand better governance and the right to gather and protest.
According to him, the protest is beyond the new minimum wage, adding that the common Nigerians not on the government payroll bear the brunt of the economic crisis.
“It’s not about the minimum wage, that’s why the labour unions are not here, what about the common man on the streets who does not earn a salary, will the government continue to share money for the state government? What about those that are not working with the government? What policies are going to favour them?,” he queried.
Protesters defy court order, match to Eagle Square
Meanwhile, after spending hours at the MKO Abiola Stadium, protesters marched to Eagle Square, where they had initially planned to converge.
During the demonstration, The ICIR observed how a group of policemen moved in their numbers to resist the protesters from moving from the stadium. But as the demonstrators remained defiant, the armed men rode through their vehicles down to Eagle Square.
There was serious resistance from the police at Eagle Square the moment the protesters headed towards the entrance of the facility.
This might not be unconnected from the court order by the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja on Wednesday, July 31, restricting the protesters to the MKO Abiola Stadium.
The presiding judge, Sylvanus Oriji, a Justice issued the order while delivering a ruling in an ex-parte application brought before him by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
Police turned violent, attacked peaceful protesters
While expressing their grievances with solidarity songs and placards at the road leading to Eagle Square, the peaceful protesters were attacked with tear gas by the security operatives who were stationed at the premises to repel the protesters.
The officers also blocked other popular roads leading to the area.
The ICIR’s team observed that the police fired dozens of canisters into the crowds, affecting not only the protesters but also journalists.
The ICIR also saw a tear gas canister strike a young man in the lower abdomen, leaving a gaping cut in his skin.
The incidents, which occurred in various locations around the axis, saw law enforcement officers response to the peaceful gatherings shift dramatically, leading to outrage.
Protesters return teargas canisters, stone policemen
Enraged by this development, some of the protesters began returning the tear gas canisters at the police and hurling stones in response to officers’ aggressive crowd control measures.
The ICIR heard some protesters, saying “They (police officers) caused this”. We won’t be deterred by their teargas,” while some also mobilised themselves to continue the confrontation.
The chaos continued as the police kept chasing the protesters while the protesters remained defiant.
The confrontation, which lasted for over two hours, saw the protesters pushed to the Garki, Area 11 Road, over one kilometre from the Eagles Square.
A Police helicopter appeared to be monitoring the situation and was seen hovering around the Central Business District, Abuja where the protesters were chased.
Police attack journalists
Similarly, two journalists covering the protest at Eagle Square were harassed and attacked by the police officers.
The journalists, including Yakubu Mohammed from Premium Times, identified themselves as media practitioners, with Mohammed wearing a press vest that clearly marked him as a journalist. He also presented his identity card to the police officers.
According to a Premium Times report, the police officers hit Yakubu Mohammed with the butt of their gun and their batons until he sustained injuries on his head.
Mohammed was then arrested and briefly detained in a police van placed near the Head of Service Building near Eagles Square.
Jide Oyekunle, the second journalist was also captured by The ICIR to be dragged by a police officer, but would later be released after the intervention of his colleagues.
These attacks compounded the ugly reality that many Nigerian journalists are facing in the country.
The ICIR reported how several journalists were being subjected to harassment and intimidation by the Nigerian police.
Anti-protest group
It wasn’t long after the protest commenced at the MKO Abiola Stadium when about 12 buses belonging to the anti-protest group arrived.
The group led by one Blessing Joel consisted of men who appeared tattered and unkempt. Some of them were seen smoking Indian hemp at the protest scene, while some were asking for money to be paid for their action.
The demonstrators who carried placards with the inscription, “No Protest” said they did not want to protest because it was aimed to overthrow Tinubu’s administration.
The ICIR gathered they were promised N5,000 each to frustrate the demonstration.
Meanwhile, speaking with The ICIR, the leader of the protesters, said he said the country needed peace and as such there would be no protest.
“When protests happened in other countries, we saw what happened. If Nigerians say we should engage in protest, they are not planning to do a ‘real’ protest, you will see a lot of blood flowing in the country. Because of the nature of the country when Tinubu met the country, it wasn’t easy but the man is trying. Tinubu is trying,” Joel said.
Like Eagle Square, protesters in Asokoro face police resistance
Just like at Eagle Square, protesters, in Asokoro, encountered significant resistance from the police.
The demonstration, initially intended as a peaceful expression of hardship, quickly escalated as law enforcement intervened with tear gas.
The ICIR observed how hundreds of protesters were running down the street linking to Kugbo, Nyanya, and other streets around the area, to avoid the tear-gas plumes.
As of the time of filing this report, some groups were also protesting at Airport Road, Lugbe and Kubwa.
The protest in Lugbe was later hijacked by hoodlums who caused mayhem and burnt tyres on the streets but they were repelled by the police.
Nurudeen Akewushola is an investigative reporter and fact-checker with The ICIR. He believes courageous in-depth investigative reporting is the key to social justice, accountability and good governance in society. You can reach him via [email protected] and @NurudeenAkewus1 on Twitter.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: [email protected]. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M