Nationwide Protests Over Hunger Rock Nigeria
Kayode Egbetokun, Nigeria’s inspector-general of police, accused many of the protesters of trying to destabilize the country.
“What was being instigated was mass uprising and looting, not protest,” he said, addressing the nation from the police headquarters on Thursday evening. “Hoodlums have been let loose on innocent Nigerians.”
In the southwestern city of Ibadan, Ahmed Shittu said skyrocketing prices had left him unable to support his younger siblings and their sick mother. Mr. Shittu, 29, a former mechanic, had protested before, in 2020. That was during protests against police brutality using the hashtag #EndSARS, during which dozens of people were killed.
Mr. Shittu lost his hand then, he said, while demonstrating in Lagos, Nigeria’s biggest city. He had raised his fist in the air, he said, and men he described as “hoodlums” attacked him with a machete and cut it off.
Unable to continue working as a mechanic, Mr. Shittu said he retrained as a watch repairer. But with many no longer able to afford watch repairs, his income has collapsed, and he said that he often earns only 1000 naira, or 60 cents, a day. So he turned to protest again.
“Things are too hard for me,” he said on Thursday.
Pius Adeleye contributed reporting from Ibadan, Nigeria, Ismail Auwal from Kano, Nigeria, and Nelson C.J. from Lagos, Nigeria.
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