23 Killed In Northern Nigeria Amid Hunger Protest

A report by the CLEEN Foundation revealed that six persons were killed in Niger State during the August 2024 #EndBadGovernance protest. The report further disclosed that a total of 23 persons, all from the north, lost their lives during the protest.

The foundation announced these findings on Thursday in Minna, Niger State, while presenting its report titled “Report on the conduct of Law Enforcement Personnel during the August 2024 Nationwide Protest in Nigeria.” This report contradicts the earlier position held by the then Niger State Commissioner of Police, Shawulu Danmaman, who was recently promoted to Assistant Inspector General of Police.

Danmaman had claimed that no one was killed in Niger State during the protest. However, Chogozirim Okoro, the foundation’s program manager, noted that similar presentations had taken place in Abuja and Kaduna—states where fatalities did occur—while the final presentation was underway in Niger State, which also witnessed killings.

“In Niger state, six persons were killed in Suleja and Tafa local government areas. Four persons were killed in Kano, three persons were killed in Kaduna and Borno respectively, two persons each in Katsina and Jigawa and one person each in Bauchi, Gombe and Kebbi states, respectively.

“The protests were categorised into two: Peaceful protest and violent protest. The CLEEN Foundation situation room data indicates that the nationwide protest was largely peaceful in the southern part of Nigeria but recorded serious violence in the northern states, which led to loss of lives and destruction of public property. Some observers reported violence in different states such as Kano, Niger, Gombe, Jigawa, Katsina Bauchi and Borno,” she stated.

Peter Maduoma, the foundation’s Executive Director, stressed the need for sweeping reforms in Nigeria’s law enforcement agencies. He called for enhanced accountability, monitoring, and reporting mechanisms, as well as regular human rights training, improved community engagement, effective misinformation management, continuous demilitarization of crowd control, and robust rights protection. The foundation concluded that the 2024 protest highlighted the urgent necessity to reform civil protest policing in Nigeria.