Mob stones Obasanjo's convoy

2006-04-24 22:19

Kano - Three Nigerian motorcyclists were knocked down and injured by President Olusegun Obasanjo's motorcade on Monday during a violent protest by opposition supporters, an AFP reporter saw.

Obasanjo's convoy was pelted with stones by protesters as it passed through the northern city of Kano, a hotbed of opposition to his party's bid to change the constitution to allow him to run for a third term.

As the cars accelerated to escape at least three moped taxi riders were run over. Meanwhile, several of the vehicles in the convoy were damaged by sticks and stones thrown by a mob waving opposition placards and posters.

Obasanjo's black Mercedes was not attacked, and AFP saw no injuries among the presidential party, which later left Kano by plane from the city's airport.

Under Nigeria's 1999 constitution, Obasanjo is due to step down in a year's time at the end of his second term but his ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) is lobbying lawmakers to change the rules and allow him to run again.

This has aroused fierce opposition around Africa's most populous country - especially in Kano and other areas of the mainly-Muslim north - and has raised fears of further violence in an already unruly and divided nation.

Monday's protest appeared to have been coordinated, and many demonstrators arrived at the scene in buses emblazoned with posters of Kano's Islamist state governor, Ibrahim Shekarau of the opposition All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP).

Members of the crowd shouted: "We don't support tenure elongation" and "Kano is an ANPP state, PDP has no place here".

Opposition to Obasanjo's alleged ambition has come not only from opposition and civil society groups, but also from disgruntled senior members of his own party, some of whom have split to form their own grouping.

Vice President Atiku Abubakar has also denounced the proposed constitutional amendment and announced plans to stand in next year's presidential election.

International observers, including the US director of intelligence John Negroponte, have warned that any attempt by Obasanjo to cling to power could trigger widespread violence and destabilise Nigeria's fragile region.

- SAPA