LAGOS, Nigeria – Many people were killed when Nigerian troops opened fire on a main protest site in Lagos, witnesses said, as the government sought to end a two-week march against police brutality that engulfed a nationwide demonstration.
Three witnesses gathered among hundreds of protesters at the Lakey Toll Gate in Lagos, said pickup trucks arrived shortly after midnight and soldiers began firing tear gas and then into the crowd. It was not immediately clear how many people were killed, but each witness said they saw several bodies on the road. Videos posted on social media show protesters screaming around a bloody corpse, visible through the smoke of yellow tear-gas.
“The Nigerian government sent troops to come and kill us,” said Akinbosola Ademey, host of the show, which runs five to eight miles for safety. “A lot of people were hit. You do not intend to wield live weapons against us. ”
The Nigerian military questioned the civil police about the killing, who could not be reached for immediate comment. The national government of Nigeria also could not immediately be reached for comment. The state government said it would launch an investigation into the shooting.
The decision to use military force to quell the protests would take West Africa’s most populous country and its largest oil producer to an uncertain stage. The intervention came just hours after the governor of Lagos announced a curfew in Africa’s most populous city, saying police had “swollen into a monster” in protest of the vandalism, and staged a showdown between protesters and the government.
Babajid Sanvo-olu announced On her Twitter feed The curfew will take effect at 4 a.m. local time on Tuesday and will affect all parts of the state, which is home to more than 200 million people. “No one should be met on the streets except the essential service providers and first responders,” the governor said. “We will not see and allow chaos in our beloved state.”
Tensions have risen in the oil-rich West African country in recent days as violence erupted in several cities in the southern and central states. Armed groups – which protesters say were government protesters, the government and its allies have denied the allegations – clashed with protesters, property was vandalized and dozens of prisoners were released from prison breaks in the southwestern state of Edo. Impose curfew.
In Nigeria, protesters closed Lagos, Africa’s largest city, and the capital, Abuja, was attacked with tear gas. As the government’s stubbornness grows, protesters are expanding their cause in addition to ending police brutality. Photo: Sunday Alamba / Associated Press
Located in one of Lagos’s busiest intersections, Lakey Tall Gate has become a major route for peaceful demonstrations over the past few days, with food, canvas tents and private security patrolling the perimeter with details. DJs and Afrobeat Stars chanted “Soro Soke,” or “Speak Loud,” to the young demonstrators behind a large plasma screen.
Intervened after Monday’s protests, where thousands of protesters froze the bottoms of the commercial capital, this was the largest demonstration in a two-week campaign against police brutality. A fire broke out at the city police station on Tuesday morning, ordering the national police chief to deploy anti-riot police to prevent “increasing attacks, including arson and malicious damage.”
Lagos has emerged as the center of a protest movement known as the #AndsARS – which began with a demand to disband the police force accused of ransom, torture and murder of a judge – which was marred by widespread complaints. About corruption, poor governance and a weak economy.
Hours before the curfew began, hundreds of protesters vowed not to march on the toll gate.
“This has become more than police brutality. It’s about our future, “said Stephen Addedoza, a 35-year-old driver. “You have to make a stand before we’re late.”
President Muhammadu Buhari, a former general, has said little about the protests evolving from a single-issue campaign against alleged government corruption, economic mismanagement and more widespread protests against nepotism. Mr Buhari agreed to disband SARS in a televised statement last week but has been silent ever since. Several cabinet ministers and military officials have warned in recent days that the protests have become political and were heading towards “chaos”.
On October 20, Nigerian police fired tear gas during demonstrations near Abuja.
Photo:
Cola Solomon / Agence France-Presse / Getty Images
A former general who briefly ruled Nigeria as head of the military in the 1980s before returning as civilian president elected in 2015, Mr Buhari has deployed troops in recent years against other protests, including 2018, where government forces killed 45 Shiites. Was produced. Muslims march to support jail cleric. He urged the protesters to give the government time to address their concerns.
Some analysts who supported the protests said the reports from Lagos were reminiscent of military dictatorships. “It is a demonstration of how far the Nigerian government can go to prevent Nigerians from exercising their rights. It is a confrontation between the constitution and democracy, “said Bulama Bucarti, a human rights lawyer representing the families of SARS victims.
Within the protest movement, there has been a fracture between those who want to focus on police brutality and those who want more fundamental change.
In the hours before the attack, hundreds of #indesARS supporters on social media urged protesters to withdraw from the streets to continue the online protest. “We’ve lost enough people,” said one. At least 15 people have been killed since the protests began, Amnesty International said Monday.
Lad 49-year-old Oladton Collins-Abissusuva was at the toll gate when he heard automatic shelling and running among the crowd of protesters.
“It simply came to our notice then. Everyone was running but then some tried to go back, ”said the businessman, who had been protesting for days. “But we will continue. These people have been cheating on us for a very long time. ”
Write to Park J. Parkinson at [email protected]
Copyright Pirate 20 2020 Dow Jones & Co., Inc. All rights reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
.
