OpEd: Nigeria: Tide turns against government following violence against protestors

OpEd: Nigeria: Tide turns against government following violence against protestors
October 22, 2020 Admin

As I write this, on the evening of Tuesday 20 October, the Nigerian government has just sent soldiers into the streets to kill its own citizens for the crime of peacefully protesting for 13 days in their own country, for their own country. Live videos show citizens bloodied and wailing on the streets of Lagos, and there are credible reports that at least seven are dead.

These are completely unarmed citizens. I have seen dead bodies, and victims with bullets in their bodies. Neither they nor other protesters have any weapons, they were not violent, they just want a better country.

People who understand the workings of the Nigerian government and the heavy handed, reactionary way it responds to civil unrest anywhere in the country, even under a democracy, have warned that the government would do just this. Citizens knew this, anticipated this and prepared for this, but to see a democratically elected government turn on its own citizens is still the most terrible thing.

Read the full piece on New African Magazine.

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