Several people are reportedly dead after soldiers opened fire on protesters who were demonstrating in defiance of a 24-hour curfew.
The curfew, which went into effect on Tuesday at 4 p.m. local time, was designed to quell mass demonstrations that have been rocking Nigeria’s largest city of Lagos. It is unclear how many protesters were shot in the Tuesday violence, although videos culled from social media show people running as gunfire erupted in the city.
The protests, which began two weeks ago, began in response to police brutality in the West African country but have since morphed into broader demonstrations against nepotism, corruption, and government mismanagement, according to the Wall Street Journal. Witnesses told the newspaper that they saw several bodies on the road in Lagos after police opened fire.
Akinbosola Adeyemi, a radio show host who bore witness to the Tuesday violence, claimed the government was at fault.
“The Nigerian government sent the army to come and kill us,” Adeyemi said. “A lot of people were hit. You are not meant to shoot live firearms against us.”
The demonstrations have been conducted under the banner of #EndSARS, a reference to a police unit known as the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, which has been the target of condemnation over its tactics.
The curfew that was instituted on Tuesday is in effect statewide and allows only essential personnel and first responders on the streets of Lagos, a state of some 20 million people, according to CNN.
“Dear Lagosians, I have watched with shock how what began as a peaceful #EndSARS protest has degenerated into a monster that is threatening the well-being of our society,” said Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos state, in announcing the curfew.
The Nigerian Police Force ordered deployments of anti-riot police nationwide “to protect lives and property of all Nigerians and secure critical national infrastructure across the country,” it said in a Tuesday night tweet.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the State Department for comment.
