Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has called for an end to three days of “bloody” demonstrations as the cost of living crisis deepens.
At least seven people have died and more than 700 people have been arrested since Thursday’s rallies across Nigeria, the first of 10 planned “days of rage.”
“Dear Nigerians, especially our young people, I hear you loud and clear,” the president said in a televised address, adding that he understood their “pain and frustration.”
He has continued to defend his economic reforms, which protesters blame for the difficulties he has experienced since taking office in May 2023, including soaring prices.
The president said protests in some areas had been hijacked by looters and that ending the unrest would create space for dialogue.
But Mr Tinubu stopped short of saying he would reverse his policies, which include scrapping gasoline subsidies or ending the local currency’s peg to the dollar.
The demonstrations were organized via social media using the hashtag #EndBadGovernance and inspired by the recent success of protesters in Kenya. Who forced the government there to abandon plans to increase taxes?.
President Tinubu also expressed anguish over the casualties and damage to public facilities in the four northern states.
Round-the-clock curfews remain in place in Borno, Jigawa, Kano and Yobe after authorities accused “hoodlums” of committing violence.
Tinubu said the “wanton looting of supermarkets and shops” violated the promises of protest organizers.
The first day of protests in the city of Kano drew the largest crowds, with police firing live ammunition and tear gas to try to disperse thousands of demonstrators. There were also reports of robberies.
“As president of this country, I must ensure public order,” the 72-year-old president said in a speech on Sunday morning.
“Our government will not stand idly by and allow a few with a clear political agenda to divide this country.”
Amnesty International put the national death toll at 13 and called on the governor of Kano on Sunday “to establish an independent judicial commission of inquiry into the killings of at least 10 hungry protesters”.
Some people in Kano continued to defy lockdown orders, and people gathered on the city’s outskirts on Friday and Saturday were photographed waving Russian flags and calling on Russian President Vladimir Putin for help.
By Sunday, that sentiment was reflected on WhatsApp, where protesters changed profile photos to Russian flags, with some reading “Rasha Uwa,” which means “Russia Our Mother” in Hausa. ”. Others posted memes in the group saying: “We Nigerians are starving to death but our leaders don’t care. Please help us, Russian President Vladimir Putin.”
In the capital Abuja, security forces fired tear gas for a third day on Saturday to prevent protesters from marching from a stadium in the city center designed for them to gather.
Businesses that were closed during the first protests began reopening in parts of Lagos and Abuja on Friday.
But flights from Lagos to Kano and other places have been canceled indefinitely.
It’s unclear whether the president’s speech will quell the anger of Nigeria’s young people, but early indications are that it won’t.
After the speech, a youth leader in the northern city of Kaduna posted on Facebook in Hausa: “Tomorrow everyone will come out with a Russian flag.”
One of the protest organizers, Abiodun Sanusi of the Take Back Nigeria movement, told the BBC. “We cannot leave the streets until our demands are met.”
He urged the President to allow the protesters to march to the center of Abuja and meet them there.
“If the President wants to have a dialogue, we urge him to meet us at Eagle Square in the presence of all Nigerians and live on television.
“We are not interested in any secret meetings.”
Sanusi added that protesters were unhappy with the defense minister’s threat on Friday that the military would “take action” if violence continued.
“Only the police should be on the streets and they should keep the peace.”
Police deny using excessive force during the demonstrations.
