Nine people are feared dead as hundreds of youths, many underage, took to the streets of Kano on the third day of the #EndBadGovernance protest, raising Russian flags and calling for intervention from President Vladimir Putin. Despite a 24-hour curfew imposed by the Kano State Government, demonstrators expressed discontent over hunger, high living costs, insecurity, and poor governance.
Protesters along Emir’s Palace Road and BUK Road carried Russian flags and urged Putin to address Nigeria’s hunger crisis. They declared that the current situation is unsustainable, preferring to risk death from violence rather than continue suffering from hunger and deprivation.
A protester, Auwalu Idi, said, “We would rather die of bullets than of hunger. We cannot stay at home and die of hunger. We have no food or water, and that’s why we are out protesting again. We are raising the Russian flag because we believe Tinubu is following the agendas of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the United States.”
During the protest at Kofar Nasarawa in the state capital, Aliyu Abdullahi from Kofar Nassarawa Quarters was reportedly killed during a clash with security forces. An eyewitness, Musa Tela, said Abdullahi was shot when security personnel opened fire to disperse the protesters.
In Kurnar Asabe and Rijiyar Lemo, Fagge local government area, clashes between protesters and security forces resulted in the deaths of nine people, including two women. Resident Aliyu Abdullahi recounted, “Eight people were killed in our area, including women and children. An elderly woman and three others died, and many were left with various degrees of injuries.”
Despite the curfew, protests continued in areas such as Ungwa Uku, Zaria Road, Jaen, Gunduwawa, and Tudun Wada Brigade. State Police Commissioner Salman Dogo Garba said that youths, under the guise of a program organized by an unnamed politician at the Nassarawa Palace of Emir Aminu Ado Bayero, took to the streets chanting anti-government slogans. “A group of people took advantage of a program organized by one politician to continue their violent protests, but we have suppressed them,” Garba said.
