Pro-government thugs have attacked Nigerians who took part in a demonstration on Monday in Abuja to demand an end to the disregard of civil liberties and court orders by the Muhammadu Buhari administration.
Witnesses said the attack was carried out by pro-government protesters, leaving Deji Adeyanju, one of the leaders of the protest, hospitalized after sustaining bruises on his left arm.
A reporter for AriseTV, who covered the protest, told Premium Times that pro-Buhari demonstrators violently disrupted it, chasing Mr Adeyanju and others from the venue.
An amateur video shared on Twitter showed some youth singing praises of President Buhari as they advanced towards the kick-off venue of the protest outside the National Human Rights Commission.
As at the time of filing this report, it was unclear how many people were wounded at the protest in Abuja, despite reorts on social media that several demonstrators were wounded alongside Mr Adeyanju.
Ariyo-Dare Atoye, an associate of Mr Adeyanju who took part in the protest, however said the activist had been discharged from the hospital and taken to a location where he has been recuperating.
The protest held on Monday morning after the expiration of a two-week ultimatum which activists issued to Mr Buhari to order immediate compliance to outstanding court orders by federal law enforcement authorities. There was a similar protest in Lagos on Monday.
It is understood that the protest was planned after agents of Department of State Service invaded the Federal High Court in Abuja and rearrested political activist and journalist, Omoyele Sowore.
Mr. Sowore was first arrested in a Lagos hotel in August in connection with a planned mass protest across the nation against bad governance.
But the government chared him with treason, money laundering and insulting the president
Two court orders for his release have been disregarded since September by the Buhari administration.
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