Written by Abdurrahman Mahmood Kano Friday, 06 January 2012 05:00
Hundreds of protesters rallied on Wednesday in Kano and camped at the roundabout, which they renamed Liberation Square, where they said they planned to stay for as long as fuel subsidies were not restored.
But violence erupted when riot police and vigilantes stormed the area, Fahad Ibrahim Danladi, Treasurer of Citizens Coalition for Liberation, who was among the protesters when the incident happened, told Daily Trust in Kano.
“In the night we gave food to the police, we played music and we danced together but unfortunately around 1.30am some mobile police and the police officers we were together with started firing teargas,” he said.
Danladi said initially people tried to withstand the teargas but the police and vigilantes drove into the demonstrators, running over a young boy in the process, which resulted into breakage of his ribs.
The boy was taken to the hospital where died and his corpse deposited at the Murtala Mohammed Teaching Hospital.
He said the identity of the dead boy was yet to be ascertained.
Danladi said more than 300 people were injured.
“They smashed our vehicles, stole our money, laptops and food items worth N100,000 which people gave us as contribution. It is disastrous, too bad and inhuman,” he said.
“The police must pay us the damage they have done to us,” he added.
police and vigilantes drove into the demonstrators, running over a young boy in the process, which resulted into breakage of his ribs.
Another protest leader Audu Bulama was quoted by AFP news agency saying: “the policemen assisted by local vigilantes fired teargas on us, and when we refused to budge they used gun butts and cudgels to beat us while police vans ran into the crowd.”
Yusuf Idris Amoke told the BBC: “The police took cover and they started shooting tear gas into air and before we knew it they started hitting people. I was beaten by a stick, but with other people, guns were used on them. Everyone was running for his dear life; some people were falling; some people were taken unawares because they were sleeping.”
Kano police spokesman Magaji Musa Majiya disputed this version of the events, saying there were no beatings and no casualties.
Speaking to the BBC’s Focus on Africa programme, he said the protest organisers had agreed to move out of the square.
The police were left with no option but to use tear gas to disperse people after they received reports that “some miscreants and hoodlums had started to infiltrate [the protesters] and take the law into their own hands,” he said.
Majia also told a radio station that the protest was illegal as it did not have police approval.
“There are procedures to be followed by any group that wants to hold any kind of protests. The organisers of the protest must inform the police in writing, stating the date, time and venue of the protest, and secure police approval. Anything short of this is illegal,” he said, quoted by AFP.
The killing in Kano came two days after two protesters were reported shot dead in Ilorin, Kwara State.
Scrapping of fuel subsidy announced on New Year’s Day more than doubled petrol prices, sparking protests in many cities. The labour unions have called a national strike starting Monday.
Protests went on yesterday in Ibadan, Abeokuta, Kaduna and other cities, as condemnations also continued against the Federal Government for removing fuel subsidies.
The Nigeria Bar Association called on the National Assembly to urge President Goodluck Jonathan to rescind the policy.
NBA said should the President fail to heed the call, then the National Assembly should begin impeachment proceedings against him.
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