Information minister faults Amnesty’s report on death of protesters

Minister of Information and National Orientation of Nigeria, Mohammed Idris, has faulted Amnesty International’s reports that officers of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) deliberately opened fire on protesters.

Fielding questions on Aljazeera’s early morning interactive show; Inside Story, the minister stated in clear terms that Amnesty International was biassed in its report, adding that security operatives were left with no option but to restore order when protesters started looting and burning cars.

He pointed out that Police were on the ground to accompany the protesters at the beginning of the protest in a bid to guide them against any external hijack, stressing that the unfortunate bloodshed would have been averted if protesters had prevented wanton destruction of government properties

He said, “Many protesters that went out that morning had peace in mind, but one thing Amnesty International failed to mention is that the Police were on ground to accompany protesters

” The police did not shoot anybody for coming out to protest, it was the protesters who started burning vehicles and looting, and you don’t expect the security operatives to sit back and fold their arms.”

Commenting on calls to reverse to old fuel pump price, Idris admitted that the government is not unaware of the pains that trailed the removal of fuel subsidy, but assured that the Tinubu-led administration will continue to come up with measures aimed at cushioning the effect of its reforms.

“We knew there would be challenges and problems due to these reforms, but we also know that Nigeria’s economy has been a bad one, the indices are there for all to see.

“That is why Mr President said that we can’t continue to live a fake life and that fuel subsidy should be removed. The President knew some of his restructuring would be painful, which is why the government came up with several policies to cushion its effect. The economy has been bad

” I can assure you that the government will continue to do whatever is possible to ensure the government and citizens get it right. President Tinubu’s administration is a listening one. We are concerned about the protest even though it is part of democracy, but there are fears that the protest will turn to violence which is what we are witnessing,” he added.

It was a mixed bag for the #EndBadGovernance protesters on Saturday, as the action seemed to be losing the steam with which it started in some states on Thursday.

While it continued peacefully on the second day in Lagos and some other states, there was a clash between protesters and security officials at the MKO Abiola Stadium, Abuja, while other parts of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) were relatively peaceful.

While some cities witnessed arrests of suspected vandals, others saw the gradual return to normalcy with businesses reopening through protesters still thronged the streets.

However, the northern part of the country, which had appeared as the epicentre of the hunger protests, where curfew was imposed in some states on the first day, seemed to have come under better control than the previous day as arrests were made while reports of casualties reduced across cities in the region.