No fewer than eleven people have been killed after police officers deployed lethal force to quell a series of demonstrations that broke out across Nigeria on Thursday.

Witnesses in Kano said the police were responsible for three deaths in the northern commercial centre. The police denied the allegations, telling Peoples Gazette that violent elements disrupted the protest and used the moment to loot stores and fatally stab other protesters.

According to the Daily Trust, security operatives who felt threatened after being outnumbered by protesters opened fire in order to disperse the crowd in Suleja, killing six and wounding some others. The protesters had barricaded a section of the Abuja-Kaduna highway.

Residents in Borno said at least two people were killed during today’s protests in Maiduguri, the state capital. The police did not immediately return The Gazette’s request for comment about the violence.

Millions of Nigerians took to the streets on Thursday after several months of talks between the government and labour unions failed to address the severe economic crisis besetting the country.

President Bola Tinubu said his administration has been toiling to bring succour to millions of Nigerians now going days without food. The administration proposed a tariff cut for food imports last month but immediately shelved the plan, which further enraged citizens.

Security agencies had warned citizens to stay away from demonstration venues, a call that was widely rejected after being seen as a threat of the government’s sinister response to citizens’ frustration with the current dimension of the country. The Gazette reported how the military was making preparations in anticipation of a violent turn of activity in Lagos.

The government also deployed other efforts to stymie the protests’ popular trajectory, hobbling internet speed in order to prevent protesters from widespread distribution of multimedia.