Africa News
LEAD: One dead in northern Nigeria protests
Jan 11, 2012, 17:59 GMT
Abuja - One person was killed Wednesday and several more were injured, after protests against the removal of fuel subsidies turned violent in Nigeria's Niger state.
A peaceful protest in the city of Minna degenerated when Nigeria's government said it would impose a 'no work, no pay' rule on civil servants if they did not return to their desks.
Protesters torched government buildings and the offices of politicians in Minna.
Witnesses told Nigerian television that large parts of the city were on fire.
An estimated 8 million people took to the streets Monday to protest the January 1 government decision to stop subsidies on imported petrol, prompting fuel prices to double to 0.80 dollar per litre.
Strike action continued on Tuesday and Wednesday in some parts of the country.
Three people were killed in demonstrations on Monday and an attack on a mosque in southern Nigeria left five dead Wednesday, when sympathizers with radical Islamist group Boko Haram hijacked fuel hike protests and set the building on fire.
An attack on a bar in the northern city of Yobe on Tuesday night killed eight people.
Nobody has come forward to claim responsibility for the attack, but police sources said they suspect the perpetrators had links to Boko Haram.
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