Protests over the decision of the federal government to remove subsidy on petroleum products spread as residents shut down business and commercial activities in Lagos and Ibadan, Oyo State capital.
Though no casualty was recorded, protesters had to contend with the occasional skirmishes with men of the Nigeria Police Force who curiously joined in the protest in some parts of Lagos.
In Fadeyi, some irate youths descended on a service personnel attached to the Nigerian Army whom they inflicted injuries on due to what sources described as unguarded utterances on his part. He was later rescued by some organisers of the rally who prevailed on the charged crowd from killing him.
The protest march in Lagos was led by the wife of the late fiery human rights activist, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, Ganiat who was assisted by a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Chief Femi Falana, came under the auspices of the Joint Action Front (JAF) led by Dr. Dipo Fashina, who was at a time, national President, Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
?As early as 8:15 am, the horde of crowd who had massed at the former headquarters of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in Yaba, began to make its way through the popular Ikorodu Road to the now popular, Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Square, located very close to Ketu area of the state.
The long procession intermitted stopped vehicles along the road to offload passengers who promptly joined in the march, chanting various anti-government songs denouncing the action as barbaric and insensitive.
Several protesters also carried placard with various inscriptions denouncing the government just as no business activities took place across the state owing to prior notice given by the organisers to residents to stay off their businesses for the duration of the protest, which the organised labour and its civil society allies predicts would long drawn.
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