Thugs have taken over protest grounds in Port Harcourt Rivers state on Tuesday.

The grounds were used during the August #EndBadGovernance protest in Rumuokwuta, in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.

According to Channels Television, the protest ground was earlier announced as the state’s convergence point for the “FearlessInOctober” demonstration against economic hardship in the country.

However, cane-wielding hoodlums took over the ground, saying they didn’t want any protest in Rivers state.

The thugs threatened they’d beat up any journalist who dared film them.

Similar protests are being held in other parts of the country like Lagos and Abuja as Nigeria celebrates its 64th Independence Day Anniversary.

The demonstrators want President Bola Tinubu’s administration to reserve petrol subsidy removal, and forex unification, twin policies that they claimed were responsible for soaring inflation and living costs in the country.