(Adds compensation funds, inquiry panels)
By Alexis Akwagyiram and Camillus Eboh
LAGOS/ABUJA, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Hundreds of protesters
marched to the gates of Nigeria's parliament on Thursday, hours
after the army said it was ready to step in and restore order
after more than a week of demonstrations against police
brutality.
The protest defied a ban on mass rallies in the capital
Abuja that the government said was imposed earlier on Thursday
to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Chanting crowds also blocked roads and waved flags and
banners in the commercial hub Lagos, where protesters reported
clashing with unidentified men wielding weapons.
Video on social media appeared to show men coming out of a
bus and chasing protesters, though Reuters could not verify the
footage.
"We have suffered enough. We youths want to stand - no more
brutality," one demonstrator, Obinna Paul, said in another part
of the city where crowds blocked a toll gate funnelling traffic
to and from the main airport.
Lagos state governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu said on Twitter he
condemned the attacks on peaceful protesters "by armed and
unscrupulous elements trying to cause chaos".
Lagos state set up a 200 million naira ($525,000)
compensation fund for victims of police brutality, a core demand
of protesters, and a presidential spokesman said on Twitter that
the government had directed all governors to establish victim
compensation funds. He also said judicial panels of inquiry
would investigate police brutality.
Late on Wednesday, the military issued a statement titled
"Nigerian Army warns subversive elements and trouble makers".
"The NA (Nigerian Army) is ready to fully support the civil
authority in whatever capacity to maintain law and order and
deal with any situation decisively," it said.
Protesters have staged daily marches since Wednesday last
week, calling for an overhaul of police forces.
Police had responded to the demonstrations with beatings,
tear gas and gunfire, which human rights group Amnesty
International said had killed at least 10 people. But the police
agreed on Tuesday to stop using force against protesters.
In response to the protests, the head of Nigeria's police
force on Sunday dissolved the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS),
a unit that demonstrators have accused of beatings, killings and
extortion. Demonstrators have called for more meaningful reforms.
Protesters say they fear a new unit, whose creation to "fill the
gaps" left by SARS was announced on Tuesday, was just a
rebranding of the squad.
($1 = 380.6000 naira)