#EndBadGovernance Protesters Defy Gunshots, Continue March In Asokoro, Abuja

Scores of protesters are continuing their march on a major road in Kugbo, Asokoro within the Abuja Municipal Council Area (AMAC), despite being met with gunshots and tear gas from Nigeria Police Force operatives.

It was learnt that the protesters who are in the hundreds have refused to retreat despite gunshots and teargas fired by security operatives. 

Recall that a Federal High Court in Abuja had earlier given a restrictive order to confine the protesters only to Moshood Abiola Stadium. However while some of them proceeded to the stadium, others assembled at various spots across the nation’s capital.

SaharaReporters had reported how the Nigeria police fired teargas at the protesters in Abuja.

The law enforcement agents deployed teargas to manage crowds during the protest in Nigeria's capital, sparked by concerns over the country's economic situation.

Demonstrators initially gathered at the MKO Abiola Stadium before relocating to Eagle Square, just before the police commissioner's deadline to enter the stadium.

Earlier, protesters had expressed dissatisfaction with Police Commissioner Benneth Igwe's directive to move their peaceful assembly from outside the stadium to inside.

The sudden directive was met with resistance and jeers from the crowd, who had been demonstrating peacefully.

“We are not obstructing traffic and we are by the side of the stadium. We cannot move into the stadium,” they told the commissioner.

Human rights lawyer, Mr Deji Adeyanju, told the commissioner that the court order was for the protesters to protest at the National Stadium and not inside it.

"You cannot lock up the protesters in the stadium, the court order was for the protesters to protest at the National Stadium and not in the stadium specifically," he said.

“We are not here for football, we are not going inside the stadium; they can damage something there after we have left and blame it on us," one of the protesters said.