Nigeria military warns it will intervene to stop violence at looming protests

By Ope Adetayo

ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria's military will intervene to prevent any violence at protests by citizens planned for next month against bad governance and economic hardship, defence spokesperson Major General Edward Buba said on Thursday.

Buba said Nigerians had a right to protest peacefully but the demonstrations being planned from Aug. 1 could turn violent as they were inspired by events in Kenya, where young people took to the streets and forced their government to scrap $2.7 billion in tax hikes.

More than 50 people have been killed in the Kenyan protests.

Nigeria's military was last deployed to quell protests in October 2020, which led to bloodshed.

"The level of violence envisaged is best described as a state of anarchy. It is for this reason the armed forces will not watch and allow the nation to spiral out of control to such low levels," Buba said in a statement.

"It is for this reason that, troops will act dutifully to forestall such ugly occurrences from happening in our nation."

Nigerians are organising online for nationwide protests next week in response to a cost of living crisis that has seen inflation rise to a 28-year-high of 34.2% which followed several reforms undertaken by President Bola Tinubu since last year.

The government has sought more time to end hardships and the police chief has warned against the protests, blaming "self-appointed crusaders and influencers" as being behind the protests.

Protesters have asserted their right to peaceful demonstrations, calling the government's warnings of violence a smokescreen for a potential crackdown.

Protests in 2020, known as EndSars against police brutality led to the killing of at least 12 people, according to Amnesty International.

(Reporting by Ope Adetayo; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)