Within a span of 24 hours, Nigeria was wrought with no fewer than six protests across various parts the country. In Fidei Polytechnic in Gboko, Benue State, a violent student protest on Thursday led to the indefinite shutdown of the school.
Image of a burnt vehicle, following the Fidei Polytechnic in Gboko, Benue State protest on Thursday 26th August 2016.
According to news reports, tension started mounting in the institution on Thursday after the school management denied some students who were said to have met the conditions for sitting their exams from doing so. This angered the students who started destroying some of the school property. Men of the Nigerian police who were called in to restore law and order were attacked by the irate students. Some of the students were reportedly shot and arrested.
In Maiduguri, Borno state, hundreds of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) left their camps and took to the streets to protest against hunger and thirst in their respective camps. The protesters were made up of Mostly women and children, who complained that “their foods are not being supplied, there is no water and no medication for our sick kids”.
IDPs in Maiduguri, Borno state, protesting their deplorable welfare at the refugee camp on Thursday 26 August 2016.
In Abuja, the BringBackOurGirls group fighting for the release of the kidnapped Chibok girls returned to the Presidential Villa in continuation of its pressure on the government to secure the release of the girls. However, they were barred from entering the Aso Villa by the police.
BBOG protesters in Abuja on Thursday 26 August 2016
In Kaduna, peaceful protests were staged in the southern area of the state, over the incessant killings by Fulani Herdsmen.
Peaceful protest in Southern Kaduna held to condemn the violent activities of herdsmen in the area
While in Bayelsa state, plans have been made to protest the killing of a 17-year-old who was gunned down by the Anti-Vice/Anti-Kidnapping squad of the police. They boy was said to be running an errand for his mother, when he was killed under “mysterious circumstances” by the police. The Bayelsa Police Public Relations Officer issued a statement in respect of the late juvenile Mr. Kokorifa Innocent, as being a criminal whose death was as a result of gun fire exchange with men of the Nigerian police. However, eyewitness account of the incident varied from the statement issued by the command’s PPRO.
IMMINENT CIVIL UNREST IN ENUGU
Even more protests are to be expected in Enugu state, following the Thursday morning Fulani Herdsmen attack in Ndiagu Attakwu community, in Nkanu West Local Government Area of the State. The attack led to the death of a seminarian of the Catholic Church and several others injured.
According to villagers, the armed herdsmen stormed the community at about 2 a:m, and butchered every person in one of the compounds, subsequently escaping after an alarm was raised. The herdsmen entered the residence of the victims by climbing through the roof. As soon as they got it, they started butchering the occupants; the seminarian died instantly; another person had her intestines ripped off; four of the victims are battling for survival as we speak”.
Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State visits Ndiagu, Attakwu, Akegbe-Ugwu in Nkanu community which was attacked by herdsmen on Thursday, 26th August 2016
In trying to ascertain the motive of the attack, villagers stated it could possibly have been as a result of an incident the previous day in which: “grazing herdsmen entered into the heart of the community Wednesday afternoon and a woman sounded a gong, after which the cows scattered; they got the cows together and left only to return in the night”.
The state governor visited the Fulani settlement located at a valley in the community. However, the Governor and his entourage met a deserted camp, an indication that the herdsmen fled over night after the attack with all their properties. Reports stated that efforts were being made to stop the Enugu youths from launching a reprisal attack.
Herdsmen attacks continue to heighten tensions in an already fragile region of Nigeria. More frustrating for the people is the President and security agencies’ inability or perceived refusal to apprehend perpetrators of the act.
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