Protesters demand improved living conditions for Nigerians

…Police teargas protesters in Abuja

…Lagos CP provides snacks, water for protesters

The #Endbadgovernance# protesters in Lagos, Abuja, and other Nigerian cities, on Tuesday, demanded improved economic conditions and better welfare for distraught Nigerians.

The protesters also demanded a reduction of food prices, the release of all #EndSARS and #EndBadGovernance protesters, journalists of state repression, free and compulsory education at primary and secondary levels, reduction of tertiary education fees, prosecution and imprisonment of corrupt politicians, among others.

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In Lagos, the protesters marched from Ikeja Under Bridge to the Gani Fawehinmi Park at Ojota, where Olanrewaju Ishola, the state Commissioner of Police (CP), provided water and snacks for them, a gesture believed was aimed at further securing the cooperation of the peaceful protesters.

The situation was, however, different in some parts of Abuja, the nation capital, where men of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) fired tear gas at protesters, who scampered for safety.

The protest was organised by civil society organisations. The protesters carried placards with different inscriptions calling for an end to hardship in the country.

Omoyele Sowore, the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2023 election, and one of the coordinators of the protest in Lagos, said that the economic situation in the country needed urgent attention. He urged the Federal Government to take more steps to reduce the hardship.

“We are out to exercise our rights as Nigerians and draw attention to the hardship faced by citizens. We are appealing to the government to punish corrupt citizens and address the high cost of living in Nigeria,” he said.

In Abuja, the protest took a dramatic turn, as the police fired teargas to disperse protesters who gathered around the Utako Market.

Ope Adetayo, an Abuja-based journalist, said that a group of people gathered for the protests in Abuja were dispersed.

Read also: Protests in Abuja take a dramatic turn as Police fire teargas

There is no protest in Abuja. A group of people were gathered and the police dispersed them,” Adetayo was quoted to have told FIJ.

Nigerians thronged the streets of Lagos and Abuja for the “Fearless in October Protests on Tuesday, coinciding with the celebration of Nigeria’s 64th Independence.

In Port Harcourt, Rivers State, it was reported that thugs invaded the venue of the protest along Aba Road, asking protesters to go home.