Security operatives fired teargas at demonstrators during a protest march in Abuja on Democracy Day, disrupting a procession that had set out from the Berger Bus Stop in the Wuse district and was approaching Eagle Square on its way to the Federal Secretariat, where organizers had planned to formally present their demands to the federal government.
Human rights activist and protest leader Omoyele Sowore was among those directly affected by the chemical agents, with reports indicating he was exposed to teargas at close range and experienced breathing difficulties before fellow protesters assisted him away from the affected area. A second round of teargas was reportedly deployed while he was still receiving attention, heightening tension and confusion in the immediate vicinity of Eagle Square.
Despite the dispersal, the demonstrators regrouped and continued their march, with participants insisting that the actions of security operatives had not changed their determination to press their demands. The protesters said their grievances centered on ending insecurity across Nigeria, securing the release of schoolchildren who remained abducted in various parts of the country, and improving governance standards.
Sowore, speaking after the incident, said Nigerians had the fundamental right to peaceful protest and to demand accountability from those in power, and that the use of teargas against citizens exercising constitutional rights on a day commemorating democratic struggle was an especially disturbing signal. A separate protest had also taken place the previous day at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, where demonstrators expressed their frustrations about economic hardship and insecurity.
