Following the widespread outrage on day one, Nigerians continue to denounce aggressive economic situations through the #EndBadGovernance protest. Despite a high record of victimised demonstrators on day one, the second day saw an increase in numbers, drawing participants from varying age and status, including eight-year old Emmanuella Ejiugwo.
Emmanuella joined the crowd of protesters at Ojota, a suburb in Lagos State, calling out to the President to intervene in the ailing economy. She said her father is a struggling worker and can no longer afford to pay her school fees.
“I joined the protest because I want the government to help my dad and other parents like him. I don’t want to stop going to school. We all want to go to school but it is hard when there is no money,” she told an AIT journalist.
As the demonstration continues to gain traction, security agencies’ aggression, citizens’ detention and rage persists in major cities like Abuja, Kaduna, Kano and Niger.
Abuja witnessed heightened violence as use of teargas trends, resulting in the collapse of a woman. Police operatives continue to detain protesters in Kaduna and DSS joins in, arresting protest leaders in Katsina.
Disabled protesters are not excluded in the police rage. In Bauchi, two policemen forcefully dragged a disabled man among the protesters and almost dislodged him from his wheelchair. Efforts by other people with disability to prevail on them proved abortive.
Owing to the hunger protest, destruction keeps on as citizens get effortless in taking over government houses, looting of government infrastructures, warehouses and shops, says Kayode Egbetokun the Inspector General of police. However, in the protesters’ defence, Deji Adeyanju, a lawyer and protester, alleged that the unruly actions are perpetuated by infiltrates recruited by the government.
In Gombe, miscreants destroyed all billboards in front of the Government house, and demolished a government agency building and private lodge, carting away valuables.
Demonstrators in Kano have remained resolute, returning to the streets after the governor lifted the curfew imposed due to the tragedy the previous day. Lagos state witnessed division among protesters as hashtag #Igbomustgo, appeared on X, requesting that people of Igbo tribe leave Lagos or face a massive protest from 10th -30th August. This has prompted criticisms from Southeast lawmakers and former presidential aspirants, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi. Amidst the growing uproar in Northern, South Western, and some North Central states, report says southeastern states have continued to boycott the #EndBadGovernance protest.
On the second day of the protest, Borno suffers another tragic attack as a bomb blast kills one person and injures 11 others.
Press Attacks
As protesters experience hatch treatment from the police, journalists covering the protest are not left behind.
Policemen in Akwa Ibom state fired teargas canisters at a New Nigerian Newspaper journalist. In Abuja, police shot teargas at journalists who gathered at a different location, away from protesters.
Since the beginning of the protest, internet and telecommunications services in several areas in Nigeria have been significantly disrupted, making communication challenging and access to information limited. Protesters accuse Nigeria’s biggest telecommunication company, MTN, of deliberately restricting network access, alleging that the company sides with the government to suppress the protests. In a letter to the Nigerian government, 36 Civil Society Organisations condemned the extensive disruption of internet connectivity, alleging it is intentional.
Action Group on Free Civic Space (AGFCS) demands the prompt release of all individuals unlawfully detained, including journalists, requesting that all erring officers be punished accordingly.
In defence of the police, the Inspector General of Police Kayode Egbetotun, in a press statement, said the demonstrators breached a court order that confined the protesters to the national stadium.
“At no point did we breach their fundamental rights even as they breached court order,” he said.
