ABUJA: President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Nigerian armed forces on Thursday warned against Kenya-style violence in protests planned next week against the rising cost of living, with the military saying it was doing so to prevent “anarchy”.
Kenya was rocked by deadly protests that forced the government to roll back new taxes. Nigeria's economic reforms have led to a 40 percent rise in food inflation, but there have been no unrest.
There were calls on social media for demonstrations starting August 1.
It is unclear who is behind the calls and whether people are participating at a time when many Nigerians are afraid of losing their jobs and are wary of previous raids.
President Tinubu addressed these concerns in a statement late Thursday, saying: “We are not afraid of protests. Our concern is for ordinary people and the damage they cause.”
In a separate statement, he said: “We do not want to turn Nigeria into a Sudan,” referring to the 15-month civil war in the northeast African country.
“This is about hunger, not funerals. We have to be careful.”
Prices have risen since Tinubu eliminated a costly fuel subsidy and liberalized the naira exchange rate as part of reforms needed to revive the economy of Africa's most populous country.
Officials, security forces and governors have urged youth to stay away from any protests, with some even accusing the organizers of treason and trying to destabilize the country.
“Citizens have the right to peaceful protest, but they do not have the right to provoke anarchy and unleash terror,” Defense spokesman Major General Edward Buba told reporters.
“It is easy to see that the current context of the planned protests is intended to overshadow the events in Kenya, which I must say are violent,” he added.
The armed forces have discovered some elements that are “aiming to hijack the planned protests,” he said.
“The level of violence that is expected can only be described as a state of anarchy. The armed forces, for their part, will not stand idly by and allow anarchy to descend upon our country.”
The Department of State Services (DSS), which is responsible for domestic threats, said that “sinister” elements wanted to misuse the protests and had political motives.
“The conspirators intend to use the intended violent outcome to discredit and unpopularize federal and subnational governments and turn them against the masses,” it said in a rare statement.
Tinubu, who has repeatedly called for patience with his reforms, also suggested that some groups would organize protests to inflict violence and emulate the protests in Kenya.
On Thursday, he met with traditional rulers to ask them for help in suppressing any demonstrations.
“We traditional rulers have no objection to the people, especially the youth, taking to the streets and looting and destroying law and order,” said Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, the Ooni of Ife, after the meeting.
The president last week agreed to more than double the monthly minimum wage for federal employees to 70,000 naira ($43), and has also begun delivering truckloads of rice to each state to ease cost-of-living pressures.
The last major protest movement in Nigeria in October 2020 began with attacks by the police's anti-robbery unit, SARS, but developed into the largest anti-government demonstrations in Nigeria's modern history.
The police unit was disbanded, but the protests ended in bloodshed.
Witnesses and human rights organizations accused security forces of opening fire on peaceful protesters at the Lekki toll gate in Lagos on October 20, 2020.
Amnesty International said the army killed at least 10 people at the toll gate, but security forces denied responsibility and said troops used blank bullets to disperse people violating the curfew.
