‘Police ready to crush pro-subsidy demonstrators in Nigeria’

They said that the Force Headquarters in Abuja, the Nigerian capital city, had put all the state commands on high alert following the recent warning by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) that Nigerians should get ready for mass action.

On Tuesday, President Goodluck Jonathan presented the 2012 budget proposal to the National Assembly, without providing for fuel subsidy. Reacting, the Acting General Secretary of the NLC, Mr. Owei Lakemfa, said the protest was inevitable.

He had said, ‘The exclusion of fuel subsidy in the budget is not only tragic, but a declaration of war on the Nigerian people. Thus, the Nigerian people will have no choice but to confront this challenge.

‘We call on all Nigerian workers and people to begin preparations for a general strike and mass protest. The people must be prepared in the next few weeks when the Jonathan administration begins to implement his anti-Nigerian policy. Nigerians should prepare to occupy the streets and public institutions to prevent them from being taken over by unpatriotic forces.’

According to the reports, the increased police presence in many states on Thursday and the deployment of policemen to ‘sensitive and important national installations’ were part of the plan.

In some states, it was learnt that the police commands had placed orders for more riot gear to contain the protesters while security meetings had been going on on how best to tackle the mass action.

However, the Deputy Force Public Relations Officer, Yemi Ajayi, said the police would not prevent a peaceful protest because it ceased to use force against protesters since 2003.

‘We won’t stop Nigerians from protesting as long as it’s peaceful; we are only against trouble makers and miscreants who may want to take advantage of the demonstration to steal or foment trouble,’ he said.