On Thursday morning, policemen tear-gassed defiant protesters at the Lekki Tollgate in Lagos.
These protesters carried placards expressing their dissatisfaction with President Bola Tinubu’s administration, marching against hunger and hardship across Nigeria.
Protesters gathered at the Lekki Tollgate during the End Bad Governance protest on August 1, 2024.
Chanting solidarity songs, the protesters decried the hunger in the country and called for swift government action. “We just want the country to be stable. People are hungry. People are dying. We are not coming to fight; we only want the government to do something,” said one female protester.
Numerous security agents, including policemen, soldiers, officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), and the Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Agency, were present at the iconic tollgate.
They informed the mostly young demonstrators of a court order restricting their gathering to Gani Fawehinmi Park in Ojota and Peace Park in Ketu, both in Lagos mainland.
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The youths who converged at the tollgate rejected the relocation to Lagos mainland and continued their demonstrations until they were dispersed by police teargas.
The nationwide protests against economic hardship began on August 1, 2024, and are scheduled to continue until August 10 across all states in the country.
In recent months, food and basic commodity prices have skyrocketed as Nigerians face one of the worst inflation rates and economic crises, exacerbated by the government’s petrol subsidy removal and forex unification policies.
Despite warnings from the police, military, and Department of State Services against Kenya-style protests, and politicians’ appeals for youths to cancel the planned rallies, the young people remain undeterred. (Tribune)