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Authorities in southern Nigeria’s Edo state imposed a 24-hour curfew after what it describes as “incidents of vandalism and attacks carried out by thugs disguised as #ENDSARS protesters.”
Huge protests against police brutality continued in the state on Monday with several reports of riots at different locations and a leak at a detention center.
The secretary of the state government, Osarodion Ogie, who announced the curfew said that it will take effect from 4:00 p.m. on Monday until further notice.
“This decision has been made necessary due to the very disturbing incidents of vandalism and attacks on individuals and private institutions by thugs in the guise of the #ENDSARS protests.
“While the Edo state government respects the rights of its citizens to launch legitimate protests, it cannot sit idly by when thugs have taken the laws into their hands to wreak havoc on innocent citizens and in the state,” he said. Ogie.
Early Monday, there were several reports of prisoners escaping from a correctional facility in the Oko part of the state.
In videos posted on social media, some men can be seen scaling a tall barbed wire fence said to be the prison walls along the Sapele Highway in Edo state.
In this video posted by Nigerian broadcaster TVC, protesters can be seen throwing objects at the prison gate and encouraging inmates to scale the fence:
Widespread demonstrations continued in several Nigerian cities on Monday when protesters called for an end to police brutality and reforms in the sector.
The protests have continued despite the authorities agreeing to dissolve the Special Anti-Theft Squad (Sars).
On Sunday, protesters occupied the country’s central bank in the capital Abuja, but reports say they were attacked by armed thugs in the early hours of Monday.
There is also a greater presence of armed army personnel in the capital days after the military offered to intervene to warn that “subversive and riotous elements” were exploiting the situation.
