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Nigerian police disperse anti-government protests with tear gas

According to the report, members of the Takeitback protest movement took to the streets in the Maitama district of Abuja

HARARE, April 7. /TASS/. Nigerian police used tear gas to break up large-scale anti-government protests in the capital Abuja, the Daily Trust newspaper reported.

According to the report, members of the Takeitback protest movement took to the streets in the Maitama district of Abuja, demanding urgent government action amid worsening economic conditions and rising repression.

Meanwhile, The Nation newspaper reported that in Nigeria’s economic capital, Lagos, protestors tried to break into the Lagos State House of Assembly - the legislature of the eponymous Nigerian region - but were blocked by the police.

In the northwestern Nigerian state of Ondo, law enforcement units cordoned off strategically important sites and busy intersections in the region’s administrative center Akure, bracing for potential unrest.

On the eve of the protests, Nigeria Police Force (NPF) Public Relations Officer Olumuyiwa Adejobi said the protest was ill-timed, as it coincided with Nigeria’s National Police Day.

"While not against the exercise of citizens’ right to peaceful assembly and association in Nigeria as enshrined in the Constitution, the Nigeria Police Force is deeply concerned about the motive behind protests scheduled on the same day the contributions of the Nigeria Police Force to national security are to be commemorated," he said.

Last year, the country saw large-scale anti-government protests on another important day – National Independence Day – marked on October 1. Back then, protestors suggested renaming the holiday the National Day of Survival, alluding to the fact that millions of Nigerians are living below the poverty line. They blame Nigerian President Bola Tinubu for the country’s worsening economic situation.

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