Ten protesters killed in Occupy Nigeria uprising
vast minority | 10.01.2012 07:37
Tens of thousands of people have been taking to the streets as trade unions join in the rebellion with an indefinite nationwide strike against Goodluck Jonathan's neoliberal regime, which has hit the poor by removing a state fuel subsidy.
President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Abdulwaheed Omar, who confirmed the killing, accused the police of using excessive force to quell the protests and cracking down on protesters.
Giving the breakdown of the casualty figure, Omar said six protesters were killed in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, three in Lagos and one in Kano during the demonstration, reports The Moment.
The Red Cross also confirmed that police fired live ammunition and tear gas to disperse a crowd of protesters in Kano and Lagos wounding at least 18 people, some of whom died in the hospital.
For the Lagos incident, angry protesters at Ogba in Lagos, identified one of the slain protesters as Ademola Aderinto, and the injured as Alimi Abubakar, Egbujor Samuel and Iyara.
One of the protesters, Dickson Oracle said, ‘There were about seven policemen shooting in the air to disperse protesters.
"The DPO (police chief) opened fire targeting these four people and shot them. One died on the spot, because he sustained serious bullet wounds and the remaining have been brought to the hospital."
Another protester, Abubakar, said: "We were standing in front of our Mosque when some people who were sharing hand bills got to the place and just as we were still talking with them, suddenly police vehicles pulled up and started shooting sporadically on the ground before one of their Ogas took the gun from one of them and fired at us and the bullet hit me on my left thigh and I fell down.
"We were not even protesting on the road."
In Lagos the usually busy Mushin, Fadeyi, Jibowu, Ikorodu Road, Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway were blocked by the protesters who made bonfires on the roads.
At Fadeyi bus stop, demonstrators burnt tyres and scores of youth were seen chanting anti- government slogans.
http://vastminority.blogspot.com/2012/01/occupy-nigeria-uprising-ten-protesters.html
President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Abdulwaheed Omar, who confirmed the killing, accused the police of using excessive force to quell the protests and cracking down on protesters.
Giving the breakdown of the casualty figure, Omar said six protesters were killed in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, three in Lagos and one in Kano during the demonstration, reports The Moment.
The Red Cross also confirmed that police fired live ammunition and tear gas to disperse a crowd of protesters in Kano and Lagos wounding at least 18 people, some of whom died in the hospital.
For the Lagos incident, angry protesters at Ogba in Lagos, identified one of the slain protesters as Ademola Aderinto, and the injured as Alimi Abubakar, Egbujor Samuel and Iyara.
One of the protesters, Dickson Oracle said, ‘There were about seven policemen shooting in the air to disperse protesters.
"The DPO (police chief) opened fire targeting these four people and shot them. One died on the spot, because he sustained serious bullet wounds and the remaining have been brought to the hospital."
Another protester, Abubakar, said: "We were standing in front of our Mosque when some people who were sharing hand bills got to the place and just as we were still talking with them, suddenly police vehicles pulled up and started shooting sporadically on the ground before one of their Ogas took the gun from one of them and fired at us and the bullet hit me on my left thigh and I fell down.
"We were not even protesting on the road."
In Lagos the usually busy Mushin, Fadeyi, Jibowu, Ikorodu Road, Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway were blocked by the protesters who made bonfires on the roads.
At Fadeyi bus stop, demonstrators burnt tyres and scores of youth were seen chanting anti- government slogans.
http://vastminority.blogspot.com/2012/01/occupy-nigeria-uprising-ten-protesters.html
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11.01.2012 14:07
my kingdom
re labels
11.01.2012 16:15
Q: The Occupy movement is now synonymous with protests that relate to social and economic injustice worldwide. The “Occupy” tag, however, especially for a distinctly Nigerian or African movement seems unoriginal. Were there discussions amongst organisers to come up with a more African name or slogan?
A: Like you acknowledge in one of your questions, the Occupy movement is synonymous with protests around the world. So, it was only normal for the popular revolt in Nigeria to be christened after the Occupy trend. This inevitably has helped to attract attention to the protest back home even as the government is doing everything to silent the Nigerian media (electronic) from broadcasting it to the world. But with the help of social media and the Occupy tag attached to the struggle young Nigerians who have always yearned for a change of the evil status quo in the country have been able to identify with the movement. In fact the London protest wasn’t even called Occupy Nigeria protest. The London protest was organised by a group of mostly Nigerian student from across the United Kingdom
lynx