With the two major public peaceful protests in the last decade that ended because of violence and the Nigeria Police Force dispersing the crowds with teargas, experts have given solutions to mitigate the effects.
The recent #EndBadGovernance protest and the 2020 #EndSARS that started peacefully for the first few days, were hijacked by violent hoodlums, some said to have been unleashed by state actors. The chaos was quelled by police operatives using tears and in some instances, lethal force.
Speaking of ways to reduce the effect of teargas, experts have said kerosene, sprite soft drink and urine can be effective.
Nigerians on August 1 poured out on the streets across the country in protest against the economic policies of President Bola Tinubu.
The protest tagged #EndBadGovernance, saw aggrieved hardship weary Nigerians demand the return of the petrol subsidy, cutting the cost of governance, addressing high prices of food and excruciating economic hardship.
Days to the hunger protest, the federal government through political, religious and traditional leaders tried to persuade the citizens against flooding the streets, citizens, however, did not yield.
When persuasion failed, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu‘s Lagos State government and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, approached the Court for an order restricting protesters to a particular location.
While Governor Sanwo-Olu secured an order for Lagos protesters to be confined to Gani Fawehinmi Park, Wike secured an order for Abuja protesters to be confined to Moshood Abiola National Stadium.
As the protest recorded success on the first day August 1 and the second day August 2, police applied the use of force and tear gas to crack down on the protesters, particularly in Abuja, Kano, Katsina and Niger State.
According to Amnesty International (AI), security agencies used lethal force and teargas on peaceful protesters leading to injuries and death. AI added that over 1000 protesters were remanded by Nigeria authority.
The Nigerian authorities must hold to account security personnel suspected for the unlawful use of lethal force on peaceful hunger protesters, leading to deaths and severe injuries, in Bauchi, Kano, Kaduna, Maiduguri, Suleja, FCT and other places.
“Instead of addressing people’s concern on the economy, the Nigerian authorities embarked on crackdown. So far, over 1000 people have been remanded over the protest against hunger. At least 632 protesters have been remanded in Kano, while over 109 were remanded in Sokoto prison,” AI disclosed on its X handle.