Abuja, the nation’s capital is very quiet on Wednesday, after bouts of killings, looting and arson that engulfed the city in the last one week. This follows continuous protests by youths demanding an end to the now disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), but the silence could be described as ominous.
BusinessDay observed some lull in activities in major areas of the city centre as the protesters as of 10 am on Wednesday, were not sighted in the Central Business District, which had important government institutions such as the Central Bank of Nigeria, which was one of the areas where the protesters were said to have been attacked by hoodlums allegedly sponsored by government functionaries to disperse them.
At the Federal Secretariat along Shehu Shagari way, which is normally a beehive of activities, BusinessDay observed a drastic reduction in activities as it appears most civil servants have kept away from work following increasing fear of more deaths and destruction.
The Keffi-Abuja Expressway notorious for its gridlock was free as few vehicles plied the route even though Wednesday is the day usually observed for the Nyanya market, a suburb of the FCT along that route.
So far, the FCT is calm even though there are reports of skirmishes around Apo on Wednesday as some of the protesters are said to be planning “a larger and more devastating” demonstration which could turn more violent. The youths are infuriated that the authorities have allegedly organized thugs to attack and killed genuine protesters in order to discredit the protests.
The FCT Police Command on Tuesday confirmed the death of seven people, following the clashes that erupted between the ENDSARS protesters and suspected hoodlums allegedly sponsored to attack them along Kabusa-Apo axis between Monday and Tuesday.
This was disclosed in a statement issued on Tuesday by the FCT Police Command spokesperson, Mariam Yusuf (ASP), who however, assured that the Command has restored calm along Kabusa-Apo axis after the violent clash. She noted that during the unfortunate incidents in these areas, some vehicles, shops and houses were also set ablaze.
In Lagos on Tuesday, men suspected to be drafted from the Nigerian Army invaded the Lekki Toll Gate and shot protesters and injured several of them which has caused outrage across the nation and the world.
