LAGOS: Scores of workers at a construction site that includes a refinery being built by Africa's richest man rioted on Monday against lockdown measures in Nigeria's megacity Lagos, police said.
Residents in the economic hub have been ordered to stay home since March 30 as part of measures to curb the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed 40 lives and officially infected 1,273 people in Africa's most populous country.
Workers across the city of 20 million, where many live in poverty, have complained that the restrictions have cut them off from vital income.
Police spokesman Bala Elkana told AFP that construction workers at the Lekki Free Trade zone, including those at the oil refinery of billionaire Aliko Dangote, went on a rampage "over the shutdown of operations in their sites following the lockdown."
He said police were deployed to quell the protest, which called for the restrictions to be lifted so they could get back to work.
"In the process, the workers injured five policemen and vandalised two police posts in the area," he said.
"We have arrested 51 protesters and they will be charged to court after investigation. Right now, the place is calm."
A spokesman for Dangote Refinery confirmed the unrest.
President Muhammadu Buhari was due to make a nationwide broadcast on Monday evening on whether to lift or extend the lockdown.
The authorities face a difficult balancing act trying to curb the spread of the disease and contain growing anger from struggling citizens. - AFP