THOUSANDS of protesters were met with tear gas as they poured onto the streets across Nigeria today in protest against the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation. 

In the capital Abuja, where a court granted an order late Wednesday to restrict the rally to a stadium, Nigerian police officers were seen firing tear gas to disperse a protesters who had gathered a few miles from the presidential villa.

The police also fired tear gas at protesters in Bauchi and Borno states in the conflict-battered north-east. It was not immediately clear whether security forces made any arrests.