At least 13 people died during protests in Nigeria on Thursday, according to rights group Amnesty International, which accused security forces of killing peaceful protesters.
Conflicting accounts emerged on the number of deaths, a day after protesters took to the streets in cities across Nigeria to demonstrate against economic hardship.
In a statement on X on Friday, Amnesty International said six people were killed in Suleja near the capital Abuja, four in the northeastern city Maiduguri and three in Kaduna in the northwest on Thursday.
“Our findings, so far, show that security personnel at the locations where lives were lost deliberately used tactics designed to kill while dealing with gatherings of people protesting hunger and deep poverty,” Amnesty said.
Police in Maiduguri said four people died in explosions, without providing details.
On Thursday, the national police chief rejected claims that officers had attacked peaceful protesters.
In a statement on X, Inspector General Kayode Egbetokun said he had “placed all units on red alert” to respond to “further threats to public safety and order.”
In Abuja on Friday security forces fired tear gas at small groups of protesters who came out for a second day of rallies, an AFP reporter at the scene said.
