Tear gas fired to break up Nigerian fuel protests

LAGOS, NIGERIA – Jan 03 2012 14:49

Nigerian police fired tear gas to disperse a small crowd burning tyres in Lagos and arrested demonstrators in the northern city of Kano on Tuesday as protests continued over soaring fuel prices.
A group of people were burning tyres on a main road on the margins of a protest in the economic capital of Lagos when police fired tear gas, causing them to flee, an Agence France-Presse correspondent reported.
"We will not leave the streets until fuel prices come back to 65 naira," one man who identified himself as Tunde said earlier as he carried a container of fuel to pour over tyres.
There has been widespread opposition to a government move announced on Sunday ending fuel subsidies, which has caused petrol prices to more than double in a country where most people live on less than $2 per day.

The policy in Africa's most populous nation and largest oil producer saw petrol prices soar to about 140 naira (0.66 euros, $0.96) per litre from 65 naira.
An earlier protest in Lagos of a couple hundred people included prominent rights activists as well as Seun Kuti, son of the late legendary musician Fela Kuti, a harsh critic of Nigeria's

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