Nigeria security officials fire teargas at protesters

Nigerian security forces fired tear gas at protesters marching against insecurity and economic hardship in the capital Abuja, as the country marked democracy day with a public holiday and closed offices.

The protests came less than two weeks after teachers in major Nigeria cities demonstrated against a string of kidnappings and attacks targeting schools.

In an early morning televised broadcast, President Bola Tinubu vowed to "defend and strengthen" democracy.

He honoured dozens of people he said "suffered persecution... so that we have democracy today."

On the streets, however, hundreds of people protesting widespread insecurity and economic hardship in Africa's biggest democracy were met with a heavy security presence. Police and soldiers formed barricades to block their march toward the presidential villa.

The security officials then fired tear gas after the protesters refused to divert their route.

"They chased us, opened tear gas and they are just trying to just humiliate us for no reasons," one protester, Ikechukwu Ogbonna, 36, told AFP.

Videos on social media showed activist and former presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore lying on the ground on the street after the teargas was fired.

"Operatives of the Nigeria Police Force deployed a strange gas at the protest ground, at close range which entered my lungs and left me struggling to breathe before I eventually collapsed," he said in a social media post.

He told AFP the government had been incapable of solving the country's insecurity challenges, calling for Tinubu to resign.

President Bola Tinubu, up for re-election in January, declared a nationwide security emergency last November as his administration scrambled to respond to a wave of mass kidnappings and violence.

In the economic hub Lagos, hundreds of anti-government demonstrators gathered under the Ikeja Bridge — a popular protest ground in the state — where they faced a tense standoff with pro-government marchers who later joined them.

The anti-government protesters demanded the rescue of more than 80 students and staff kidnapped from their schools in Borno and Oyo states.

"Schools are still open every single day, students are still thinking about what is going on, and this must stop immediately," said Afrobeats star Falz, who joined the protest.