Stock market today: S&P 500 drops for fifth day as focus shifts to Powell’s speech
* Protests over robbery squad accused of shooting man dead
* Police have pledged to reform the unit
* Protesters want unit abolished
By Angela Ukomadu and Libby George
LAGOS, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Nigerian police used teargas on
Friday to disperse dozens of people in the capital Abuja who had
gathered to protest at alleged brutality by members of a special
police unit, witnesses said.
Protesters, some holding placards, ran as clouds of teargas
hung in the air. Multiple people at the incident said on Twitter
that police had fired the canisters.
A spokesman for the police did not immediately respond to a
message and call requesting comment.
"They poured teargas on each and every one of us, it's so
hot I had to put water on my face. This is what Nigeria has
turned into," protester Anita Izato said.
"We just got there with our placards and decided, they
started throwing us teargas. That was it," another protester
said.
Sporadic protests have broken out across Nigeria in recent
days after a video circulated last week alleging to show members
of the Special Anti-Robbery squad, known as SARS, shooting dead
a man in Delta state.
The police pledged to reform the unit soon after the alleged
incident, including by banning SARS agents from carrying out
routine patrols and requiring them to wear uniforms when on
duty. But protesters have called for the unit to be abolished.
Nigerians and international rights groups for years have
accused SARS of brutality, harassment and extortion, and there
have been multiple pledges in the past, including from the
government of President Muhammadu Buhari, to reform the unit.
#EndSARS has been trending on Twitter in Nigeria for several
days, popular singer Naira Marley held an Instagram chat with a
police spokesman over the issue watched live by more than 30,000
people and even the deputy governor of Lagos state said he had
been harassed by SARS agents.
"Every citizen of Nigeria should be upset," Lagos state
government spokesman Gboyega Akosile said in a Tweet, sharing a
video of Lagos state Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat addressing
protesters and sharing his own story of harassment.