Market News

• ‘Fierce clampdown’ by Nigerian authorities, Amnesty says
• At least three states declare 24-hour curfew after violence

By Anthony Osae-Brown

(Bloomberg) -- A clampdown by Nigerian security forces on protests against the high cost of living in Africa’s most-populous nation left at least 13 people dead.

Nigerians chanting “we are hungry” marched through the streets of several cities on Thursday. Three states, Kano, Borno and Yobe, all in the northern parts of the country, imposed a 24-hour curfew after the protests turned violent. 

The “violent crackdown on peaceful protesters is unjustified and unacceptable,” Amnesty International said in a statement on Friday. It called for an investigation into the killings.

The mobilization of demonstrations against government policies that have driven inflation to a near three-decade high began on social-media at least a month ago, with organizers calling for 10 days of protests from Aug. 1 to 10. The government tried to stop them through court orders and warnings by the security agencies, as well as pleading with traditional and religious leaders to urge their followers not join the planned marches.

There was no sign of the protests resuming on Friday.

There’s a risk that protracted demonstrations may deter President Bola Tinubu’s administration from continuing to implement its economic-reform program, which in turn may crimp efforts to attract foreign capital inflows into a country where 40% of its more than 200 million people live in extreme poverty.

The protests may also expedite initiatives to curb price pressures, particularly on food, and improve transparency and accountability, BancTrust & Co. said in a research note.

The yield on Nigeria’s longest dated dollar bond maturing in 2051 jumped 19 basis points to 11.19% on Friday, the highest since November, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The main index of the nation’s stock exchange declined 0.42% to 97,359.76 points, the lowest since Jan. 22. 

The protests, which started slowly on Thursday, grew through the day as people trooped out across the country, despite warnings from the security agencies and the presidency to avoid Kenyan-style dissent in the West African nation. 

“Police stations have been destroyed, there have been attempts to take over government houses, looting of government infrastructures, several warehouses and shops have so far been looted and, in several instances, completely destroyed,” Kayode Egbetokun, the inspector-general of police, said in a statement.

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“Nigerian authorities’ fierce clamp down on peaceful protests yesterday and the harmful rhetoric by government officials ahead of the protests appear to be part of a wider plan to find justification for depriving people of the right to peaceful protest” Amnesty said. 

Protests that erupted in Kenya in mid-June culminated in hundreds of people storming parliament and forced the government to abandon measures aimed at raising more than $2 billion of revenue needed to plug the East African nation’s budget shortfall. At least 61 people died.

Nigeria has experienced its own deadly protests in the past: at least 56 people were killed in rallies against police brutality in 2020, according to Amnesty International. The popular Lekki Tollgate in the wealthy Victoria Island area — where some protesters were killed in 2020 — was largely empty on Thursday amid a heavy police deployment.

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(Updates bond yields in eighth paragraph.)