A massive protest today Monday broke out in MInna, the Niger state capital as residents trooped out to ventilate their grievances against the hardship trailing the country’s worsening economy.
It resulted in the stoning of the Deputy Governor, who made an effort to pacify the aggrieved citizens.
As part of efforts to make the protest effective, the organisers had blocked the Minna-Bida Road to users, creating a huge traffic snarl in the process.
The Deputy Governor of Niger State, Yakubu Garba later addressed the protesters.
Garba said the government was aware of the pain and hardship families faced at this time,
He said palliative distribution earlier carried out by the government was among deliberate efforts to reducing hardship.
However, the earlier peaceful protest turned chaotic when the Deputy Governor was leaving the scene as angry youths chant ‘karya neh! Karya neh’ and threw stones at the convoy.
The protesters were lamenting the hardship in the country, saying, the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration had brought misery and hunger.
Though there were moves by the police to control the crowd, this was resisted as the protesters asked security agents to stay out of their ways.
However, some of the policemen were seen firing into the air in an attempt to scare the protesters.
However, the bulk of protesters remained and stood adamant.
The protesters said the rising cost of food items and poor government effort at arresting the situation had forced them to block major roads so that government will hear their cry.
