As Nigerians marched against hunger, security forces responded with gunshots and force, killing 22

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Ismail Musa was out having tea with his brother Jamilu when they first heard the gunshots. Musa ran to hide under a table but was hit by a bullet fired to disperse protesters in northern Nigeria’s Kano state. The 23-year-old barely made it halfway to the hospital.

“All he said was ‘mama’,” Musa’s sister said, her voice weak from crying. Musa was among the 22 who were killed during protests against hunger and bad governance in Nigeria, according to Amnesty International’s Nigeria office.

Nigerian security forces said they used “appropriate” measures to quell violence during the protests and only admitted killing one protester — a teenager who the Nigerian army said was killed by a “warning shot”. But The Associated Press spoke to three families who said their relatives were killed by gunshots fired by security agencies, some of their accounts verified by witnesses and videos from the scenes.

“There was nothing whatsoever that happened during that protest to warrant the use of live firearms,” Amnesty International’s Nigeria director Isa Sanusi said.

The cost-of-living crisis that fueled the protests is the worst in a generation in this oil-rich and most populous African country, which by 2050 is forecast to become the third most populous nation in the world, tied with the United States after India and China.

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That crisis is blamed on the government’s economic policies to save more money and attract investors, but which have contributed to pushing the inflation rate to a 28-year high of 34.19% while the currency, the naira, languishes at record lows against the dollar. At least 63% of the population is poor. The government has struggled to create jobs. And the world’s longest war on militancy continues to unfold in its northeast.

Despite its oil wealth, Nigeria’s population of more than 210 million people are also among the world’s hungriest, accounting for 10% of the global burden, according to the U.N. food agency. Still, its politicians, often accused of corruption, are among the best-paid in Africa.

Nigerian security forces are known to use excessive force to respond to protests, often leading to loss of lives, and this time was no different, said Anietie Ewang, a Nigerian researcher with Human Rights Watch. The threats that emerged during the latest protests did “not require that level of response” from the police, she said.

While most of the victims were shot in city centers where the rallies were concentrated, some were in more remote areas where the hardship they were marching against is more pronounced.

It was in one of such communities – Rijiyar Lemo in Kano state’s Fagge council area – that Bashir Muhammed Lawan was protesting alongside other youths before he was hit by the bullet that killed him, his family said. It was time for the Muslim afternoon prayers and an attempt to disperse the protesters resulted in a clash that culminated in gunfire, according to Khadija, his sister.

“They were only protesting but were labelled thugs,” Khadija said in between sobs. “So poor people have no right to demand their rights? We want justice for him.”

As Nigerians were planning for the protests, authorities feared they could be a replay of last month’s chaotic tax hike rallies in Kenya that have also inspired the movement. While the police deployed thousands of officers on the roads, the military stationed trucks in the capital Abuja and threatened after the first day on Aug. 1 that they would intervene to quell any violence.

Even though protests in Nigeria usually start as peaceful, “the army (was) itching to get a piece of the action right from the start,” Confidence MacHarry with the Lagos-based SBM Intelligence consultancy said.

As thousands poured onto the streets across the country on the first day of the protests, police fired tear gas to disperse crowds in several places while looting and vandalism were reported in some states. Events from that day showed “what was being instigated was mass uprising and looting, not protest,” national police chief Kayode Egbetokun said. He announced officers are being put on “red alert” which would mean being directed to respond to an extreme level of threat.

In the subsequent protests, more people were reported killed and at least 700 protesters were arrested. Even journalists were shot at in Abuja.

What had been tagged “10 days of rage” suddenly fizzed out by the fifth day amid the deadly security clampdown and after Nigerian President Bola Tinubu called for an end to the protests.

By Wednesday this week, 22 protesters had been killed across six states, mostly by the police, Amnesty’s director Sanusi said in an interview that cited accounts from witnesses and families in addition to the group’s verification.

Some who were hit by bullets were lucky to survive but with serious injuries.

Abubakar Aminu, 14, still has a stray bullet stuck in his back from the protests in Kano state’s capital because the doctors said it is too deep into his body and can’t be removed for at least two weeks, his mother Ummi Muhammad said.

Carrying him to the hospital daily is frustrating, his mother said, but perhaps what is more frustrating for her is that she never wanted him to be out on the day of the protests.

“I cautioned him not to go out but you know children nowadays,” she said, worried about how long he would continue to live with the pain, his injury covered with bandages, yet so deep.

Some of the victims died during clashes with the police. But some like Abbas Kabiru were killed close to home, away from the chaos.

Kabiru, 36, was standing in front of the family compound in Kaduna state’s Rigasa community watching the rallies with his siblings when he was hit by a bullet they said was fired by soldiers chasing protesters. Four days on, the Nigerian military has yet to contact the family, his father Baba said

The Nigerian military did not immediately respond to an inquiry. It has only confirmed its soldiers killed one protester — a 16-year-old boy — shot dead by a “warning shot” after protesters “attempted attacking” some soldiers deployed to quell violence.

“Abbas was an easygoing child who did not drink or smoke,” he said as he recalled in pain what life was like with his son around. “My joy is that there were positive comments about him. The whole community was saying good things about his life. And that made me happy as a father.”

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AP journalists Salim Umar Ibrahim in Kano, Nigeria and Mohammed Ibrahim in Kaduna, Nigeria contributed.