The police in Akwa Ibom State on Friday, the second day of the #EndBadGovernance protest, fired teargas cannisters to dislodge a small group of protesters at the Ibom Plaza, Uyo, the state capital.
The protesters, who were about 15, carried placards with various inscriptions such as: “End bad governance in Nigeria”, “End hunger in Nigeria”, “End bad governance in Akwa Ibom State” and “reduce fuel price to N100,” among others.
The protesters were singing and chanting solidarity songs, when the police fired the teargas cannisters at them, sending them to Unity Park along Udoudoma avenue, the approved venue of the protest.
Ibom Plaza links Wellington Bassey Way, where the Government House is located.
A journalist with the New Nigerian Newspapers in Akwa Ibom State who was speaking to the protesters was affected by the teargas.
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One of the protesters told journalists that they decided to join the protest because of the difficult economic situation in the country, saying life in Nigeria was becoming unbearable for the average person.
“We are here to protest against high cost of fuel. In this country we can do better as a people, we cannot produce crude oil in Nigeria and buy fuel for N900 per litre. This is unacceptable.
“An average person cannot feed his family again because of the way things are going. The Federal Goverment said it had increased the minimum wage. The minimum wage is useless because it cannot buy a bag of rice. We want a bag of rice to be brought back to N10,000 and the price of fuel down to N100”, he stated.
The early morning rain which did not stop until afternoon and heavily armed security agencies had stalled the protest on the first day.
Many Uyo residents remained indoors, while economic activities were grounded, but activities resumed on Friday, except banks that did not open.
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