Lagos Residents Block Ikeja Underbridge, Demand Reversal of Tinubu’s Economic Policies

Thousands of agitated Lagos residents flooded the Ikeja Underbridge on Thursday, June 12, 2025, rejecting the official Democracy Day narrative and demanding immediate reversal of electricity tariff hikes and other economic policies under President Tinubu’s administration.

A wave of placards screamed: “Reverse Electricity Tariff Hike” and “No one deserves a death sentence for protesting against hunger,” while activists from the Take-It-Back and End Bad Governance movements led chants against rising living costs and fuel subsidy removal.

Security was visibly heightened—uniformed police, DSS and Lagos Neighbourhood Safety Corps personnel surrounded protesters but made no arrests. Lagos Police PRO Benjamin Hundeyin reassured onlookers: “Adequate security on ground…no cause for alarm.”

This demonstration echoes last year’s Democracy Day protests, when similar crowds demanded lower fuel prices, reversal of electricity hikes, and a living wage, but today’s turnout was significantly larger and more charged.

The momentum builds from nationwide calls by EndBadGovernance and Youth Rights Campaign, which had earlier pledged to use June 12 to confront what they called “two years of hunger, hardship, and rising insecurity” under Tinubu.

Protesters marched past messaging hubs, shouting for policy U-turns and economic relief—to bring the Dividends of Democracy to citizens battling inflation and devaluation since the fuel subsidy removal in May 2023.

As evening fell across Lagos, the largely peaceful protest left a clear message: Democracy Day cannot proceed as a sacred holiday while people are starving. Will policymakers answer the demand echoing from the streets?