At least 10 people were killed and several others injured at various protest grounds in Nigeria as Nigerians kicked off the 10-day #EndBadGovernance protest on Thursday.

Security forces killed seven of these people, according to Daily Trust, and injured many others during the protest in Suleja, Niger State.

One of the deceased was hit by a stray bullet on his bike in front of the Suleja Police A Division. According to the paper, security officials killed the protesters while trying to dislodge them from barricading a section of the Abuja-Kaduna highway.

In Kaduna, at least three protesters were killed and some others injured. FIJ learned that the police fired live rounds of ammunition into the crowd of peaceful protesters at the Ahmadu Bello Roundabout before the protest turned violent.

The situation in Lagos was different because the police shot no one. While it was deemed peaceful, some protesters reported seeing louts waiting to unleash violence on them.

In Lagos, a source at Ojota told FIJ that she saw some “government-sponsored thugs waiting for protesters to enter the Freedom Park before hurting them”. When FIJ visited the overhead bridge at Ojota, FIJ found several private vehicles filled with young men watching the protesters. After a while, they drove off.

In places like Abuja, there were acts of intimidation from the police, such as heavily manning the protest grounds with armed security forces and tear-gassing the protesters. However, no deaths have been recorded thus far, except for a few illegal arrests in Cross River State.

In Maiduguri, Borno State, the police dispersed the protesting crowd by firing live bullets at them. FIJ reported that due to the police’s actions, people scampered for safety, including a News Central TV presenter.

The #EndBadGovernance protest, which kicked off on Thursday, is expected to last for at least 10 days as Nigerians come out en masse to demonstrate against inflation, hunger and the high cost of living, among other issues.