Nigeria arrests protesters with Russian flags, Russia denies involvement

A Russian flag seen reflected on a damaged window outside Belgorod in March 2024. (Photo by STRINGER / AFP)

• Russia says it had nothing to do with large numbers of Nigerians displaying Russian flags during protests.
• Police said they had arrested more than 90 people with such flags, at least some of them made locally.
• Thousands are protesting the high cost of living.

Nigerian police said on Tuesday they had arrested more than 90 demonstrators carrying Russian flags as protests triggered by economic hardship entered a sixth day.

Thousands of people joined protests against government policies and the high cost of living last week as Africa’s most populous country suffers its worst economic crisis in a generation.

The rallies have petered out in most parts of the country following clashes with security forces, but hundreds of protesters took to the streets in northern states on Monday including Kaduna, Katsina and Kano, as well as central Plateau state.

AFP journalists and witnesses saw some demonstrators holding Russian flags, a development the Russian embassy distanced itself from.

Northern Nigeria shares strong cultural, religious and socioeconomic ties with neighbours in the Sahel region, which has seen a string of coups in recent years and military leaders turning away from Western allies towards Russia.

Russian flags have featured at rallies in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, and their appearance in Nigeria triggered harsh reactions from officials.

Asked about the protesters in Nigeria, police spokesman Olumuyiwa Adejobi said on Tuesday that “we have more than 90 of them arrested with the Russian flags.”

In a statement on social media, a spokesperson for Nigeria’s DSS security agency also said it had “apprehended some tailors in Kano State responsible for making the Russian flags being distributed in the area” and was investigating.

Nigeria’s defence chief said it was “totally unacceptable.”

“People supervising elements to push individuals to carry Russian flags in Nigeria, Nigeria sovereignty, that is crossing the red line and we will not accept that,” General Christopher Musa warned at a briefing in Abuja on Monday.

The Russian embassy to Nigeria denied involvement in a statement on its website on Monday.

It said it was aware of media reports and social media footage “depicting protesters in northern states of the country carrying Russian flags and chanting slogans to Russian President Vladimir Putin.”

“The Government of the Russian Federation as well as any Russian officials are not involved in these activities and do not coordinate them in any way,” it said.

“These intentions of some protesters to wave Russian flags are personal choices.”

Rights group Amnesty International has accused security forces of killing at least 13 demonstrators in the first day of protests on Thursday, while police say seven people have died and denied responsibility.

In a televised address on Sunday, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu called for the suspension of demonstrations — but protest organisers have vowed to press ahead with rallies despite lower turnout.

“We can’t stop until our demands are met,” Abiodun Sanusi from the Take It Back activist group in Abuja told AFP on Monday.

The group has called for a reduction in fuel prices and for the government to tackle the soaring cost of living, which rose following economic reforms brought in by Tinubu.