Hunger protest: Victims, families recount ordeals, demand bailout
As the #EndBadGovernance nationwide protest fizzles out, many Nigerians, especially in the north, will live with the wounds, scars and financial losses for a long time to come.
The protests against economic hardship, which started August 1, continued even after President Bola Tinubu called for an end to the demonstrations that faced a crackdown from security forces, who reportedly shot at the protesters in various states in the northern part.
The cost-of-living crisis was fueled by surging inflation, at a 28-year high, and government economic policies that pushed the naira to record lows against the dollar.
At least 17 persons were reportedly killed in Abuja, Kano, Niger, Borno, Kaduna and Jigawa, with several others injured on the opening day of the protest against the nation’s worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation and against the corruption and alleged bad governance that have stifled its development.
In Suleja, a major town in Niger State, six people were feared killed when the protesters reportedly attempted to invade a police station. Four people allegedly died on the spot while others who sustained gunshot wounds were rushed to the Gwagwalada General Hospital. Two of the wounded died on the way to the hospital.
The country’s security forces have been accused of using excessive force in the nationwide protests and even though Muyiwa Adejobi, the Nigeria Police Force spokesman, admitted instances of killings during the protests, he claimed none were carried out by the police.
However, the Nigerian Army, through its spokesman, Major-General Onyema Nwachukwu, admitted on Wednesday that one of its soldiers killed a teenager Ismail Muhammad in Zaria, Kaduna State, thus admitting that security agencies deployed to monitor the activities of the #EndBadGovernance protesters across the country used live bullets on protesters.
The confirmation of the use of ammunition by the military immediately contradicted the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun’s claim that none of the nation’s security agencies applied excessive force, including the use of live bullets on the protesters.
Amnesty International condemned the use of deadly action against the protesters, accusing the security operative of killing at least 21 protesters during a week of rallies against economic hardship.
The global body stated, “Our findings, so far, show that security personnel at the locations where lives were lost deliberately used tactics designed to kill while dealing with gatherings of people protesting hunger and deep poverty.”
In a statement, Nobel Laureate Professor Wole Soyinka also slammed the government for the use of live bullets against unarmed protesters.
“Live bullets as state response to civic protest – that becomes the core issue. Even tear gas remains questionable in most circumstances, certainly an abuse in situations of clearly peaceful protest. Hunger marches constitute a universal S.O.S, not peculiar to the Nigerian nation,” Soyinka wrote.
Aside the dead, the protest recorded other casualties who barely survived to recount their near-death experiences as the nationwide demonstrations fizzled out.
A cameraman with the African Independent Television cameraman, Femi Kuku, narrowly escaped being shot by security operatives, who reportedly opened fire on journalists covering the protest at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja last Saturday.
Kuku noted that the security operatives knew that they were all journalists yet opened fire on them.
While Kuku ran for his dear life, he fell into an uncovered manhole and suffered a dislocation on his left leg.
“It was my colleagues who picked me up and pushed me inside the Toyota Sienna vehicle we came with because I could not walk at that point,” he said. “When we moved forward a bit, we stopped to check if everybody was okay, and that was when we saw them coming towards us again with their vehicles. They came down and started shooting again, so we sped off into town.
“From that point, we went to the office, and I was taken to the hospital to check my leg. I had no bruises but the left leg and ankle are swollen, it’s very painful, so I leap walk now.”
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