The African nation’s police have reported deadly clashes on the first day of a weeklong rally against a hunger crisis
Nigeria’s police force has placed its officers on high alert and is ready to seek backup from the army, following reports of violence and deaths in nationwide protests against alleged bad governance and a hunger crisis.
At least four people were killed and 34 others severely injured in an explosion during marches in Borno State, the police inspector general, Kayode Egbetokun, told reporters on Thursday.
Clashes occurred in several other major cities, including Abuja, Yobe, Kaduna, Niger, and Kano, according to Egbetokun and local media.
“We recorded incidents of unprovoked attacks on security personnel, where one policeman has been reported murdered and others seriously injured,” Egbetokun said.
“Hoodlums have been let loose on innocent Nigerians and their hard-earned businesses and property looted and destroyed. The destruction so far has been mind-boggling,” he added.
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Nigerians began a ten-day street rally on Thursday to protest the worst cost-of-living crisis in Africa’s most populous state. The situation has been blamed on President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms, including the removal of a fuel subsidy when he took office last year. The country’s inflation rate stands at 34.19%, with food inflation exceeding 40%, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.