Close Menu
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    SweetCrudeReportsSweetCrudeReports
    Subscribe
    • Home
    • Oil
    • Gas
    • Power
    • Solid Minerals
    • Labour
    • Financing
    • Freight
    • Community Development
    • E-Editions
    SweetCrudeReportsSweetCrudeReports
    Home » Nigeria security forces deploy as protests loom

    Nigeria security forces deploy as protests loom

    August 1, 2024
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp
    *Nigeria Labor Congress (NLC) protest against the high cost of living and massive suffering following a hike in petrol and devaluation of the Naira in Lagos, Nigeria February 27, 2024. REUTERS/Marvellous Durowaiye/File Photo.

    – Govt offers dialogue

    Lagos — Nigerian security forces deployed in major cities and the government said it was open to dialogue ahead of planned protests on Thursday against a cost-of-living crisis and poor governance that authorities fear could turn violent.

    After taking office more than a year ago, President Bola Tinubu swiftly removed some fuel subsidies, devalued the naira currency and later hiked electricity tariffs, moves that have sent inflation soaring past 34%, eroding incomes.

    Nigerians are also grappling with widespread insecurity, which has damaged the farming sector, while armed gangs kidnap residents and school children for ransom in the north.

    Inspired by Kenyan protests, Nigerians are mobilising online to demand reinstatement of petrol and electricity subsidies, free primary and secondary education and an end to the insecurity, among other demands.
    A senior government official, George Akume, said the protests could be infiltrated and become violent, without elaborating.

    “We prefer dialogue, we are ready for dialogue,” he told reporters, without saying whether the government had been in contact with the protest organisers. “Nigeria is a work in progress and things will soon improve.”
    Tinubu’s government has so far used a mix of threats and cajoling to discourage the protests.

    In the capital Abuja, the commercial hub Lagos and the northern city of Kano, armed police deployed on major roads, set up security check points and searched cars.

    Former Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama plans to renegotiate the terms of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout and increase local ownership in oil and mining projects if he wins the country’s December election, he told Reuters.

    Police occupied the main square in Abuja that protesters planned to use, while military vehicles parked nearby.
    A court order confined Lagos protesters to two venues on the outskirts of the city.

    Some Lagos residents said they were worried that protests could turn violent as happened during anti-police demonstrations, known as EndSars, in October 2020, when lives were lost and properties destroyed.
    At one of Kano’s largest malls, Sufi Mart, workers were busy reinforcing windows with shutters.

    “I don’t want it (the protest) to extend into the night so that it doesn’t turn out to be another thing like EndSars,” said Nneka Ochiachebe, who sells second-hand clothes at a Lagos market.
    The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here.
    Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe, Additional reporting by Seun Sanni in Lagos, Felix Onuah in Abuja and Hamza Ibrahim in Kano Editing by Gareth Jones

    Related News

    Customs seizes N3.6Bn illegal export in Owerri 

    Shettima urges integration of informal economy into formal intra-African trade framework 

    VTT’s TOF-SIMS device studies composition and durability of solid material

    Comments are closed.

    E-book
    Resilience Exhibition

    Latest News

    NNPC raises alarm over sabotage campaign targeting leadership, reforms

    June 29, 2025

    Heirs Energies, Renaissance Africa Energy collaborate to drive Nigeria’s oil & gas development

    June 29, 2025

    WISTA Nigeria laud appointment of female maritime leaders

    June 29, 2025

    Akwa Ibom, REA partner to expand rural electrification access

    June 29, 2025

    Genesis Energy and Desert Technologies sign Strategic Collaboration Agreement

    June 29, 2025
    Demo
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    • Opec Daily Basket
    • Oil
    • Power
    • Gas
    • Freight
    • Financing
    • Labour
    • Technology
    • Solid Mineral
    • Conferences/Seminars
    • Community Development
    • Nigerian Content Initiative
    • Niger-Delta Question
    • Insurance
    • Other News
    • Focus
    • Feedback
    • Hanging Out With Markson

    Subscribe for Updates

    Get the latest energy news from Sweetcrudereports.

    Please wait...
    Please enter all required fields Click to hide
    Correct invalid entries Click to hide
    © 2025 Sweetcrudereports.
    • About Us
    • Advertise with us
    • Privacy Policy

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.