Protests in Nigeria over the rising cost of living dwindled on Monday, with only a few hundred people participating in major cities following a deadly crackdown by security forces since the demonstrations began last week.
The protests, which began on Thursday, were intended to continue until August 10. Hundreds of thousands had taken to the streets in the capital Abuja, Lagos, and other major cities to protest against economic hardship and crime.
According to Amnesty International, at least 13 people have died in clashes with the police since the start of the protests, dubbed “#10DaysOfRage.” The police, however, put the death toll at seven, stating that some of the fatalities resulted from accidents and an explosive device. A strong police response and a call for a protest pause by President Bola Tinubu seemed to have dampened the demonstrations, which followed reports that annual inflation had reached a 28-year high of 34.19% in June.
In Lagos, where the demonstrations have mostly been peaceful, about 100 people gathered at the protest site, singing and chanting “we are hungry.” In Abuja, there were no signs of protests at the main stadium where demonstrators had been gathering since Thursday.
About 200 protesters in the north were dispersed by armed security forces in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, while in Katsina, security forces fired teargas at protesters chanting “hunger and insecurity are killing us.”
Curfews have been imposed in parts of the north, which has seen some of the largest and most intense protests, as well as in the central state of Plateau.
Tinubu on Sunday, called for an end to the violence and expressed his openness to dialogue.
Tinubu, who has been in office since May 2023, defended his economic reforms, including a partial end to costly petrol and electricity subsidies and the devaluation of the naira, as necessary measures to reverse years of economic mismanagement.