ABUJA, Nigeria, April 18 (UPI) -- Government forces descended on protesters who were demonstrating in northern Nigeria against the expected re-election of their president, witnesses said.
Nigerians voted during the weekend to choose their next president. With much of the opposition all but evaporating ahead of the vote, incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan is expected to win the next term in office.
The period before the election was relatively peaceful. Reports of violence were minor compared with the unrest that greeted past elections. Nigerian forces, however, used batons and fired warning shots in the air to disperse rioters in the north of the country, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Jonathan is from southern Nigeria. He took over as president last May after the death of President Umaru Yar-Adua, a northerner.
The north of the oil-rich country is plagued by a declining manufacturing base and a high rate of unemployment. Regional governors imposed a 24-hour curfew in order to stem the violence, the Journal adds.
Nafiu Baba-Ahmed, the leader of the Supreme Council for Islamic Law in Nigeria, said the situation in the country took a turn for the worst after the weekend vote.
"The situation has really degenerated," he was quoted as saying. "There is a complete breakdown of law and order in some parts."
