While the nationwide protest against the suppression of freedom of speech was ongoing on Monday morning, the police shot tear gas at protesters in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

FIJ gathered that the police also fired gunshots at the protesters who were gathered at Isaac Adaka Boro Park, Port Harcourt. This was to prevent the protest from taking place.

The protest in Rivers is a twin demonstration against the crackdown on freedom of speech in Nigeria as well as the emergency rule in the state following the suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara and the House of Assembly by President Bola Tinubu.

A source, who does not want to be named, told FIJ that the police shot at the leaders of the Take-It-Back (TIB) movement and the Niger Delta Congress (NDC).

“They have been taken to an undisclosed hospital, while some members of both organisations are missing,” said the source.

READ MORE: TIB Plans April 7 Protest Against Crackdown on Freedom of Speech

A video clip obtained by FIJ shows that the air in the protest ground was thick with smoke. The sound of tear gas canisters being fired, with people shouting and footsteps running in the background, can be heard as well.

Some of the fleeing protesters are heard shouting, ‘Canisters!’ ‘Police!’ ‘Shooting tear gas,’ ‘Tear gas by the police at the peaceful protesters‘.

On Wednesday, TIB announced plans for nationwide protests on Monday to demand an end to repression and attacks on free speech. The next day, the NDC in Rivers also issued a statement, noting that it had fixed the same day to protest against the suspension of Governor Fubara.

While TIB’s nationwide protest was to kick off in the morning in the capital cities of various states, NDC members were to gather early in Rivers State as well.

READ ALSO: Police Arrest Niger Delta Congress President After Calls for Protest Against Emergency Rule in Rivers

However, while protesters affiliated with both groups, as well as other residents, trooped out to the location at Isaac Boro Park, the police arrived to disperse them with tear gas and ‘

“They have dispersed the protesters. While the location of some members of both organisations is unknown, the leaders of NDC and TIB were conveyed by members to undisclosed hospitals,” said FIJ’s source.

“The police said they were given orders from above to ensure the protest doesn’t happen.”

READ ALSO: NPF Worried About National Police Day Embarrassment, Asks Protesters to Wait

When FIJ contacted Grace Iringe-Koko, the spokesperson for the police in Rivers, by phone call on Monday, she said she would respond with a statement. She had not sent her response at press time.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) stated that it was worried about the nationwide protest. The protests on Monday coincided with the National Police Day.

Muyiwa Adejobi, Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), who described the protest as mischievous, said high-ranking police officers from several countries would be arriving the country to celebrate with the NPF, and the demonstration would be an “unpatriotic act that is capable of rubbishing and maligning the image of the Nigeria Police and the nation as a whole”.

Abimbola Abatta is a reporter with FIJ, writing reports in partnership with Report for the World, which matches local newsrooms with talented emerging journalists to report on under-covered issues around the globe.