INTERNACIONAL
Rights group says security forces have killed 9 as Nigeria protests over hardship enter a second day
Nigerian security forces clashed with protesters during mass demonstrations over the country’s economic crisis, leaving at least nine people dead, a rights group said Friday. One police officer was killed as the military threatened to intervene to quell any violence.
Meanwhile, four people were killed and 34 injured Thursday when a bomb went off in a crowd of protesters in the conflict-hit northeastern state of Borno, authorities said.
Police continued to fire tear gas at protesters in various locations, including the capital of Abuja, as they regrouped on Friday.
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The military will also intervene if the looting and destruction of public properties witnessed on Thursday continued, Nigeria’s defense chief Gen. Christopher Musa said. «We will not fold our arms and allow this country to be destroyed,» Musa told reporters in Abuja.
More than 400 protesters had been arrested as of Friday, the Nigerian police said. Curfews were imposed in five northern states after the looting of government and public properties, but protesters defied the curfews in some places, resulting in arrests and clashes with police.
National police chief Kayode Egbetokun said Thursday night that the police are on red alert and may seek the help of the military.
People protest against the economic hardship on the street in Lagos, Nigeria, Friday, Aug 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
Amnesty International’s Nigeria director Isa Sanusi said in an interview that the group independently verified deaths that were reported by witnesses, families of the victims, and lawyers.
The protests were mainly over food shortages and accusations of misgovernment and corruption in Africa’s most populous country. Nigeria’s public officials are among the best paid in Africa, a stark contrast in a country that has some of the world’s poorest and hungriest people despite being one of the continent’s top oil producers.
The cost-of-living crisis — the worst in a generation — is fueled by surging inflation that is at a 28-year high and the government’s economic policies that have pushed the local currency to record low against the dollar.
Carrying placards, bells, tree branches and Nigeria’s green-and-white flag, the mostly young protesters chanted songs as they listed their demands, including the reinstatement of gas and electricity subsidies that were canceled as part of an economic reform effort.
Violence and looting were concentrated in Nigeria’s northern states, which are among the hardest hit by hunger and insecurity. Dozens of protesters were seen running with looted goods including furniture and gallons of cooking oil.
Egbetokun, the police chief, said officers «aimed at ensuring peaceful conduct.» But, he added «regrettably, events in some major cities today showed that what was being instigated was mass uprising and looting, not protest.»
The police chief’s claim was disputed by rights groups and activists. «Our findings so far show that security personnel at the locations where lives were lost deliberately used tactics designed to kill,» Sanusi said.
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Authorities feared the protests, which have been gathering momentum on social media, could be a replay of the deadly 2020 demonstrations against police brutality in this West African nation, or as a wave of violence similar to last month’s chaotic tax hike protests in Kenya.
However, the threats that emerged as the protests turned violent in some places did «not require that level of response» from police officers, said Anietie Ewang, a Nigerian researcher with Human Rights Watch.
Daños
Un soldado ucraniano de la 28ª Brigada Mecanizada Separada se retira tras disparar una granada propulsada por cohete (RPG) contra las fuerzas rusas cerca de Bakhmut el 20 de marzo de 2023. (Tyler Hicks/The New York Times)
Funeral de Yaroslav Yarotskyi, de 25 años, que murió junto a otros ocho soldados ucranianos cuando un dron impactó contra su posición en una trinchera del frente en la región de Luhansk, en noviembre de 2023. (Mauricio Lima para The New York Times)
Soldados de la Legión Internacional utilizan un sistema antidrones para interferir frecuencias cerca de una posición rusa en el bosque de Serebrianka, en el este de Ucrania, el 6 de febrero de 2024. (Tyler Hicks/The New York Times)
Soldados ucranianos instalan su puesto avanzado de drones en las ruinas de una granja cerca de la ciudad de Kreminna, en el este de Ucrania, el 1 de marzo de 2024. (David Guttenfelder/The New York Times)
Una unidad de artillería de la 95ª Brigada de Asalto Aéreo Separada de Ucrania dispara un obús contra las tropas rusas que intentan capturar Toretsk, en la región de Donetsk, en el este de Ucrania, el 13 de julio de 2024. (Tyler Hicks/The New York Times)
El 108º Batallón Separado «Lobos Da Vinci» de Ucrania entrena con drones terrestres no tripulados en la región de Donbás, Ucrania, 21 de febrero de 2025. (Tyler Hicks/The New York Times)
El soldado ucraniano Roman Lozynskyi llora sobre el féretro de su amigo y compañero Dmytro Pashchuck, en Khlivchany, Ucrania, el 15 de marzo de 2023.Batalla naval
Drones marinos en un lugar no revelado de Ucrania el 6 de diciembre de 2023.
Reacción
Respuestas
Pope Francis on Thursday shared his first audio message since being hospitalized nearly three weeks ago for double pneumonia, expressing thanks to his well-wishers around the world.
Francis sent a short, two-line recorded message made at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, which was played Thursday evening at the start of the rosary in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican.
«I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your prayers for my health from the Square,» he said in a message that was translated from Spanish to English. «I accompany you from here. May God bless you and the Virgin protect you. Thank you.»
The pope has shared written messages via the Vatican since being admitted to the hospital on Feb. 14, but Thursday was the first time his voice had been heard.
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Francis’ condition remained stable and «guarded» Thursday, a day when the pontiff did not have difficulty breathing and remained fever-free.
The pope had a «good night» and continued physical therapy at Rome’s Gemelli hospital for his third week of treatment for double pneumonia, the Vatican said Thursday.
«Today, the Holy Father dedicated himself to some work activities during the morning and afternoon, alternating rest and prayer,» the Vatican said. «Before lunch, he received the Eucharist.»
The next update on Francis’ condition will come Saturday, the Vatican said, because of his stable condition.
Pope Francis waves from the central loggia of St. Peter’s basilica during the Easter ‘Urbi et Orbi’ message and blessing to the City and the World as part of the Holy Week celebrations, in the Vatican on March 31, 2024. (Tiziana Fabi/Pool/AFP/Getty)
«The night passed quietly; the Pope is still resting,» the Holy See press office said earlier Thursday, adding that the Pope’s «clinical condition has remained stable for the last couple of days, and his doctors say he has not had more episodes of respiratory insufficiency.»
The 88-year-old pope, who has chronic lung disease and had part of one lung removed as a young man, has been stable for two days after suffering a pair of respiratory crises on Monday. Doctors underlined that his prognosis remained guarded due to the complex picture.
In recent days, he has been sleeping with a non-invasive mechanical mask to guarantee that his lungs expand properly overnight and help his recovery. He has been transitioning to receiving oxygen with a nasal tube during the day.
The pope on Wednesday marked the start of Lent by receiving ashes on his forehead and by calling the parish priest in Gaza, the Vatican said. He also added physical therapy to his hospital routine of respiratory therapy.
The Catholic Church opened the solemn Lenten season without the pope’s participation. A cardinal took his place leading a short penitential procession between two churches on the Aventine Hill and opened an Ash Wednesday sermon prepared for the pontiff with words of solidarity and thanks.
Girls, with ashes on their foreheads, pray during a rosary prayer for Pope Francis’ health in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, March 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
On Ash Wednesday, observant Catholics receive a sign of the cross in ashes on their foreheads, a gesture that underscores human mortality. It is an obligatory day of fasting and abstinence that signals the start of Christianity’s most penitent season, leading to Easter on April 20.
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The pope was supposed to attend a spiritual retreat this weekend with the rest of the Holy See hierarchy. On Tuesday, the Vatican said the retreat would go ahead without Francis but in «spiritual communion» with him. The theme, selected before Francis got sick, was «Hope in eternal life.»
Mexican painter Roberto Marquez places a painting of Pope Francis he made outside the Agostino Gemelli hospital in Rome on Ash Wednesday. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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