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Gangs armed with knives and sticks blocked the main roads in Lagos, and many were angered by a speech by the Nigerian president calling for calm but not condemning the killing of protesters demanding an end to alleged police brutality.
The unrest is the worst street violence since Nigeria’s return to civilian rule in 1999 and the gravest political crisis facing President Muhammadu Buhari, a former military leader who came to power at the polls in 2015.
A road leading to the international airport was blocked by roadblocks controlled by groups of young people demanding cash from motorists. Buses whose drivers refused to pay were destroyed, a Reuters witness said.
To the east of Lagos, in the Ibeju area of Lekki, gunmen drove off the police and several police stations were burned to the ground.
Service stations were closed and ATMs were not working in some parts of the city. Cars were burned and shops looted.
Violence in Nigeria’s huge commercial center, a city of 20 million people, has escalated since Tuesday night, when the curfew was announced.
Amnesty International said soldiers and police officers killed at least 12 protesters in the Lagos districts of Lekki and Alausa.
On Thursday, Amnesty, Human Rights Watch and 40 other groups called for an “immediate and thorough investigation” into the incident.
The army has denied that there are soldiers at the scene of the shooting in Lekki, where people had gathered to defy the curfew.
President Buhari, in a national speech late Thursday, urged young people to “disrupt street protests and constructively engage the government in finding solutions.”
Read more:
Protesters killed by Nigerian security forces in Lagos, says Amnesty
At least 12 dead in protest shootings in Nigeria – Amnesty
It was his first public speech since the shootings began. Although he lamented the loss of innocent lives, he did not directly refer to the Lekki incident that prompted international condemnation.
Many of those on the streets despite the curfew said that Buhari’s speech had angered them for not addressing the Lekki incident.
“What we expected is not what we hear from him,” said businessman Lekan Shonibare. “We expected him to say something to condemn the murder, he never mentioned it in his broadcast.”
Buhari held talks with former Nigerian presidents, including his immediate predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan, and Olusegun Obasanjo, one of his advisers said on Twitter.
Lagos authorities have struggled to enforce a 24-hour curfew as anger over the killings mounted. A man on the road said that the military government was better than the one the country has now.
Reuters witnesses saw two military vans pass by the airport, but ignored the gunmen who stopped and, in some cases, attacked cars and buses. Another Reuters witness saw men in plain clothes carrying weapons and machetes on the streets of the Ikeja area of the city.
Shots were heard in Ikoyi, a prosperous neighborhood, a resident told Reuters. The occupants of an apartment block were told to avoid windows and balconies.
Tricycle rickshaw operator Victor Orji said any protest must be peaceful. “I’m seeing what’s going on, burning police stations, burning everywhere, that was not the right thing to do,” he said.
The disruption has not been limited to Lagos. Several states in southern Nigeria have imposed curfews days after two weeks of clashes between security services and protesters.
In addition to anger within Nigeria over the shooting of protesters, the incident has sparked a wave of criticism of the Nigerian authorities and the behavior of its security forces.
The UN Human Rights chief said there was “little doubt that it was a case of excessive use of force”, while US presidential candidate Joe Biden and former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned the use of the violence against protesters.
A delegation of US officials who was in Nigeria for previously scheduled meetings met with the country’s vice president on Thursday and condemned the “use of excessive force by military forces that fired at unarmed protesters in Lagos,” said a spokeswoman for the country. Department of State.
Buhari, in his speech, encouraged the international community to “know all the available facts” before rushing to pass judgment.
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