State governments of Jigawa, Katsina, Kano and Yobe placed residents under 24-hour curfew, amid nationwide protests against high cost of living in Nigeria. The authorities say “hoodlums” have highjacked the protests so as to loot and vandalize properties.
Residents have been ordered by the government not to leave their homes, therefore, must not attend protests – on Friday.
There is a heavy security presence around the country with nine more “days of rage” scheduled by the movement’s organisers.
On Thursday, the first day of the protests, demonstrations in the northern city of Kano drew the largest crowds.
Live bullets and tear gas were fired by the police- and sprayed hot water – to try and disperse thousands of demonstrators. Three people were shot dead and many others were injured. Amnesty International said thirteen protesters across the country were killed by security forces on the first day of the protest.
Looters also broke into a warehouse near the Kano Governor’s house and police say 269 people have since been arrested with the recovery of many 25-litre groundnut oil cartons and other items taken.
Also, Borno state has joined its neighbours in imposing a day-long curfew – but the authorities there say the restrictions are in response to a deadly bombing.
According to the police, on Wednesday night, 16 people were killed in an explosion at a teashop in the rural community of Kawori, police said.
Officers say 20 others were critically injured. No-one has said they were behind the attack, but locals suspect it was carried out by notorious jihadist group Boko Haram, which has been active in the north-east since 2009.
However, the curfew was imposed on Thursday after protesters began marching in Borno’s state capital, Maiduguri.
The nationwide demonstrations were organised via social media and inspired by the recent success of protesters in Kenya, who forced the government to scrap plans to increase taxes.
During Thursday’s protests, which also saw tear gas fired in the capital Abuja, but which were largely peaceful in the south, demonstrators chanted slogans such as: “We are hungry.”
Many of them are angered by President Bola Tinubu’s removal of a subsidy on fuel – announced with immediate effect during his inauguration speech in May 2023.
It was aimed at cutting government expenditure, but sent pump prices soaring with a ripple effect on other goods, such as food.
Protesters also want the government to carry out wide-ranging reforms to the country’s electoral system and the judiciary.
A spokesperson for Kano’s governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, said protests there were largely peaceful but a curfew was necessary because of the “rampant looting, destruction of property and violence” unleashed by “thugs”.
Likewise, Yobe State Government imposed a curfew on the areas of Potiskum, Gashua, and Nguru, where it says “hoodlums are taking advantage of the protest to vandalise and loot government and private properties”.
Katsina’s government said “miscreants” had “hijacked the protests” there.