Nigeria: Curfews in place amid reports of deaths at protests

Abuja: Police were on high alert on Friday in Nigeria, a day after clashes broke out between protesters and police forces in some cities in Nigeria.

At least 13 people have been reported killed in the cost-of-living protests, according to human rights group Amnesty International.

"Our findings, so far, show that security personnel at the locations where lives were lost deliberately used tactics designed to kill while dealing with gatherings of people protesting hunger and deep poverty," the rights group wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Local media reported varying death tolls, with The Punch saying that up to 17 people had been killed.

The inspector general of police, Kayode Egbetokun, had the count much lower — with a toll of just three — as of early Friday morning.

Egbetokun said late on Thursday that police had fully mobilized and were prepared to respond to any further threats to public order.

Police fired live bullets and tear gas to disperse demonstrators in the capital Abuja and the northern city of Kano on Thursday.

A 24-hour curfew has been imposed in the northern state of Kano, the second-largest in the country, after the looting of government and public properties there.

The demonstrations were expected to continue on Friday, with organizers saying earlier this week that action against the government was to be sustained for 10 days.

The protests, under the slogan "#EndBadGovernanceInNigeria," come amid soaring inflation and public anger at policies made by President Bola Tinubu's government.

The rallies on Thursday kicked off with protesters carrying banners, chanting songs, and listing their demands, including the reinstatement of gas and electricity subsidies.  

The demonstrations come as a larger wave of unrest over living costs spreads across Africa in places like Kenya and Uganda.