By Luka Binniyat and Mike Odeh
(Kaduna) – After three days of historic protests he let go by unremarked, and after riots, church burnings, and dozens of deaths, Nigeria’s President could hold his silence no more.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been accused of insensitivity and aloofness from the suffering of Africa’s most populous nation, but on Sunday morning he stepped up to the bully pulpit to defend his decisions in full. With the best bedside manner he could command, he exhorted a roiled nation of branch-waving rioters to stand down (see full text of his speech on this site).
Tinubu deplored the loss of life, commiserated with affected families and pleaded for organizers to suspend further demonstrations, opting for dialogue instead. The President highlighted his administration’s achievements, including economic reforms, infrastructure development, and social programs.
The President emphasized the need to protect lives and property, ensure public order, and respect constitutional rights.
Tinubu encouraged Nigerians to work together to build a brighter future, choosing hope over fear, unity over division, and progress over stagnation, and assured that his government is committed to listening and addressing citizens’ concerns.
Governor Calls for Curfew on Plateau State
Though most Christians in Nigeria’s Northern Middle Belt witnessed relatively low participation in the protest, Plateau state capital was an exception in one County.
Plateau State Gov. Barr. Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang has imposed a 24-hour curfew on Jos North County, effective from 12 midnight on August 4, 2024.
According to the governor, the decision was made to maintain public order and enhance security after unscrupulous individuals exploited the nationwide protest to unleash terror on innocent citizens.
The curfew, according to Mufwang, is in the best interest of all citizens, and he urged everyone to comply.
He said that security agencies have been directed to ensure total enforcement of the curfew.
The governor warned those planning to unleash further terror to desist or face the legal consequences. He expressed gratitude to citizens, particularly the clergy and imams, for their support and cooperation in maintaining peace and unity.
Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja
Police Disperse Protesters in Contempt of Court Order.
On Saturday, security operatives forcibly dispersed protesters gathered near the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city, defying a court order restricting the demonstration to the marked areas on the stadium premises, TruthNigeria learned.
Protesters were met with tear gas and intimidation.
“We thought they were bluffing,” protester Hanatu Maza, 32, an unemployed single mother said to TruthNigeria from Abuja. We were just assembling, and they were looking battle ready. They said that we should leave. But the Court has ruled that we can assemble here peacefully and voice our problems. Then they started firing tear gas and live bullets in the air,” she said. “We are returning. We won’t be quiet,” she said.
Sunday Opeyemi, a commercial driver, also added, “We’re not troublemakers; we just want change. But every time we try to speak out, they shut us down. It’s like our voices don’t matter.”
Despite tensions, the city was normalizing, with citizens going about their daily activities. However, the incident highlights concern about the suppression of free speech and the rule of law in Nigeria.
Northeast Nigeria
In Borno State the governor complained that out-of-school kids made up 95 percent of the street protesters.
Borno Governor Prof. Babagana Zulum lamented that 95 per cent of the protesters in the #EndBadGovernance protest that turned violent in Maiduguri, Borno’s state capital, last Thursday were children below the age of 14 years.
Zulum said this while announcing the lifting of the 24-hour curfew imposed on the state following the violent protests. His remarks were represented by Borno State Commissioner of Information and Internal Security, Prof. Usman Tar.
Over 95 per cent of those who participated in the so-called Thursday protests were children under 14 years. Most of them do not know why they are protesting, Zulum said, according to the press release from Tar.
“A six- year-old child carrying a placard is amazing; he must have been directed by someone. Most of those children are not from Borno,” according to Zulum.
Zulum said that a situation where thousands of children were living in Maiduguri in the name of Almajiri [orphans cared for in Islamic schools for pre-teens] without care from anyone needed to be looked into.
Normalcy has returned to Maiduguri as there was no protest in any part of the town, Saturday, our reporters affirmed.
Hoodlums Attack Red Cross Vehicles, Loot Stores in Yobe State
Damaturu, Yobe State Capital was still reeling under curfew Saturday, according to reports gathered by TruthNigeria. There was no reported demonstration in Damaturu or any parts of the Yobe state.
Northwest Nigeria
In Kano on Saturday, young people defied the official curfew and called for Russian Intervention. TruthNigeria has launched an investigation into the sponsorship of the demo which bore resemblance to Russian information operations in other countries.
Hundreds of mostly underage youths took to the streets of Kano, northern Nigeria’s biggest commercial town and most populated city, demanding Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intervention in #EndBadGovernance protest and a take-over of power. Despite the 24-hour curfew because of the violence that had marked the protest in the state since Thursday, the crowd of chiefly teenage boys and partially veiled Muslim women marched along Bayero University Road near the Emir’s palace.
The protesters, who spoke in Hausa, expressed desperation, saying the current situation was unbearable.
“We’d rather die from bullets than hunger,” said Auwalu Idi, a protester. “We can’t stay home and die of hunger; we have no food, water, or means to feed our families.”
Some protesters waved Russian flags, shouting that President Tinubu was following scripts from his “imperial masters” – the World Bank, IMF, and the United States.
However, State Police Commissioner Salman Garba alleged that some youths were part of a program organized by an unnamed politician at the Nasarawa palace of the deposed Emir of Kano, Aminu Ado Bayero.
Kaduna State:
Calm and Normalcy Returns to troubled parts of Kaduna State.
Kaduna was stable Saturday. The Southern Parts, slightly over half of the 9 million people of the state, are dominated by Christians. They stayed out of the protest after their religious and leaders of socio-cultural groups warned that the protest would be marred by violence, saying mercenaries had been brought in to create chaos during the protest.
A survey by Truth Nigeria showed that most of the shops that had been locked Thursday and Friday Kaduna Northern part were opened for business on Saturday. It was true for Kaduna’s Central Business District Area which has the largest market in the state. And Zaria town, 30 miles north of Kaduna, where the protest was rowdy and lawless Thursday, was peaceful with no demonstration
Luka Binniyat and Mike Odeh are experienced conflict reporters based in Kaduna and write for Truth Nigeria.
