Hunger protest: Police begin trial of 1,135 detained demonstrators

Several state Police Commands in the northern part of the country have begun the prosecution of arrested protesters during the 10-day #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria nationwide protest.

While the protests were relatively peaceful in the South, it turned violent in the North with several lives lost, property worth billions of naira destroyed, leading to the declaration of curfew in no fewer than five states.

The protests, which held from August 1-10, was against the rising cost of living, which has been fueled by fuel subsidy removal, surging inflation at a 28-year high and government economic policies that pushed the naira to a record low against the dollar.

At least 17 persons were reportedly killed in Abuja, Kano, Niger, Borno, Kaduna and Jigawa, and several others injured on the opening day of the protest with Amnesty International condemning the use of deadly action against the protesters and accusing the security operatives of killing at least 21 protesters.

Police arrested protesters, some of whom waved the Russian flag, in Kano, Kaduna, Gombe, Katsina, Yobe, Bauchi, Borno and Jigawa as the demonstrations assumed a violent dimension, announcing that they would be duly prosecuted.