The 39-year-old businessman says he returned to Nigeria last year after two decades abroad because he wanted to help his country. When nationwide demonstrations began on Oct. 8, he volunteered to manage logistics at the main protest site in Lagos.
But what began as a largely peaceful movement, driven by young, tech-savvy activists who used social media to grab global attention, turned into some of the worst street violence the country has seen since the end of military rule in 1999.
Police and soldiers enforcing a curfew killed at least 12 people in two Lagos neighborhoods on Oct. 20, according to witnesses and rights group Amnesty International. The army and police denied involvement.