Armed security personnel have taken over major access roads leading to the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in the Federal Capital Territory.
The massive deployment comes amid tension over a planned mass protest by civil society groups.
The demonstrators are demanding the rescue of students and teachers recently taken hostage by terrorists in Borno and Oyo states.
Soldiers, police officers, and secret service operatives locked down strategic junctions early Thursday morning to prevent protesters from approaching the seat of power. Teams from the civil defence corps, immigration service, and local vigilante groups also joined the operation.
Security agents set up metal barricades and conducted strict stop-and-search operations on the few vehicles allowed past the outer cordons.
The strict security measures ground commercial activities to a halt in the central business district. Civil servants heading to the Federal Secretariat and lawyers going to the Supreme Court found their usual routes completely
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