Nigerian police teargas protesters, arrest dozens

By Abraham Achirga and Hamza Ibrahim

ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria's police on Saturday arrested dozens of protesters and fired teargas to disperse those trying to march to government offices in the capital Abuja on a third day of demonstrations over a cost of living crisis.

In northern Kano state, at least one person was shot in the neck and rushed to hospital, witnesses said.

At least 13 people were killed on Thursday when protests turned violent, Amnesty International said, blaming police for using live rounds.

Police said on Saturday that in three days of protests seven people had died, but they denied responsibility. Nearly 700 people had been arrested during the protests and nine officers injured, police added in a statement.

Police have sought to confine protesters to the outskirts of major cities to avoid disruptions to business and traffic.

On Saturday, demonstrators gathered at a major stadium in Abuja but police used teargas to disperse them when they attempted to march on a major road into the centre of the city.

"Many Nigerians are feeling the same pains, so I believe they will come out and protest. I will be here till midnight," said protester Julius Chidiebere before police fired teargas.

Dozens of protesters were arrested and driven away in police vans, Reuters journalists said.

Police and the army intensified patrols in Kano State where some protesters attempted to break into a police station near the neighbourhoods of Kurna and Rijiyar Lemo.

In the commercial hub of Lagos, more than 1,000 protesters gathered peacefully to denounce economic hardship worsened by President Bola Tinubu's reforms that started last year with the removal of a popular petrol subsidy and the devaluation of the currency, which sent inflation soaring.

(Reporting by Abraham Achirga in Abuja and Hamza Ibrahim in Kano, Additional reporting by Seun Sanni in Lagos, Writing by MacDonald Dzirutwe, Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)