By Ope Adetayo
ABUJA (Reuters) – Nigeria has arrested seven Polish nationals for hoisting Russian flags during anti-government protests this week in northern Kano state, Peter Afunanya, a spokesman for the state security service, said on Wednesday.
Hundreds of thousands of Nigerians have been protesting since August 1 against President Bola Tinubu’s painful economic reforms, which have partially ended gasoline and electricity subsidies, currency devaluation and inflation that has reached a 30-year high.
As protests turned deadly in at least six northern states, 22 people have been killed during demonstrations so far, Amnesty International said. More protesters have been killed in Kano, the rights group said.
This week, some demonstrators waved Russian flags during protests in northern states, underscoring concerns about increased Russian activity in West Africa. Security forces arrested a number of tailors they said had made the banners.
Afunanya said the Poles were detained amid attempts by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to enforce security. He gave no details about who they were, but said the operations did not target Polish civilians.
Stanislaw Gulinski, a Polish consul in Nigeria, confirmed the arrests during a meeting between Nigeria’s foreign minister and diplomats in the capital Abuja.
“They were arrested in Kano two days ago and the last I heard they were on a plane to Abuja from Kano,” he said.
Gulinski declined to comment further when contacted by Reuters.
“The Abuja (diplomatic post) was informed of the arrest of a group of Polish students and a teacher in Kano, Northern Nigeria,” the Polish Foreign Ministry wrote on social media platform X.
“The consular service is determining the exact circumstances of the incident together with local authorities to support our citizens. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs remains in contact with the families of the detainees.”
Nigeria’s Chief of Defense Staff, General Christopher Musa, has called the waving of a foreign flag during anti-government protests a “treacherous offense” after holding security talks with President Bola Tinubu on Monday.
In the northern states of Borno, Kaduna, Kano and Katsina, demonstrators were seen waving hundreds of Russian flags, some calling for a military takeover.
The Russian embassy in Nigeria denied any involvement.
