More than 11 persons have lost their lives nationwide following Thursday August 1 march against hunger, which turned violent.
All over the country protesters defied government plea for Nigerians to shun the protests, but in some parts of the northern states there were skirmishes between the police and the demonstrators and curfew have been imposed in Jigawa, Kaduna and Kano States.
In Jigawa police fired shots and teargas to disperse the threatening crowd two persons were killed while many others sustained injuries. The All-Progressives Congress secretariat in Dutse was set ablaze. In Gumel, the store of the state Agricultural Supply Company (JASCO), the house of the member of the House of Representatives representing Gumel, Gagarawa and Maigarati, as well as the residence of the APC Zonal Vice Chairman, were vandalized and looted by the protesters who overpowered the security agents deployed in the area.
In Kano three protesters were gunned down as they tried to loot and burn public property
According to the Daily Trust, security operatives who felt threatened after being outnumbered by protesters opened fire in order to disperse the crowd in Suleja, Niger State killing six and wounding some others. The protesters had barricaded a section of the Abuja-Kaduna highway.
Residents in Borno said at least two people were killed during today’s protests in Maiduguri, the state capital. The police did not immediately return The Gazette’s request for comment about the violence.
