[ad_1]
Nigerian police have reportedly opened fire on protesters in Lagos after 12 days of demonstrations against police brutality.
Two people are believed to have been shot after more than 20 officers began firing at protesters in the city’s Lekki district on Tuesday, witnesses told Reuters.
State officials have already imposed a 24-hour curfew on the 20 million people living in Lagos, Africa’s largest city, in a bid to end the protests.
Protests have overwhelmed Lagos for 12 days
But the demonstrations, against a unit of the Nigerian police force called SARS (the Special Anti-Theft Squad), show little sign of slowing down.
SARS was established in 1992 to combat robbery, kidnapping and other violent crimes, but it has been widely criticized for human rights abuses including torture, extortion, and extrajudicial killings.
Nigerians claim that plainclothes police officers often target young men with tattoos, dreadlocks and expensive cars in an arbitrary manner.
The recent demonstrations began on October 8 after a video allegedly showed SARS agents shooting a man in NigeriaDelta State was widely shared on social media.
They came to the world’s attention after celebrities, including Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, actor John Boyega, and footballer Marcus Rashford, condemned the brutality and corruption in Nigeria.
With thousands taking to the streets and blocking the main road from Lagos to the international airport, the marches have turned into a broader movement on bad governance and corruption.
Police initially promised not to use force against protesters
Fifteen people are believed to have died as a result of the protests and riot police were deployed this week after a police station caught fire.
Initially, the police responded with tear gas and water cannons to disperse the protesters, but later vowed not to use force.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has offered a series of concessions in an attempt to quell the unrest, promising comprehensive reform and compensation to victims of any brutality by officers.
Police announced that a new Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team would “fill in the gaps arising from the dissolution of the missing SARS.”
The state has offered to disband SARS, but protesters say it is making empty promises.
But the new unit has been dismissed by protesters, who say the government has failed to deliver on its promises in the past.
This feeling of national discontent has now spread to the country’s federal parliament, and the speaker of the lower house, Femi Gbajabiamila, said he would not approve the national budget for 2021 unless it incorporates provisions to compensate victims of police brutality in last. Two decades.
The government has asked protesters to leave the streets, arguing that it has now complied with their demands.
There have also been economic implications, as the Lagos Chamber of Commerce reported that the Nigerian economy has been hit by about 1.55 billion pounds ($ 2 billion) as a result of the disruption.
