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LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) \u2014 Nigeria’s<\/a> former President Muhammadu Buhari, who ruled Africa’s most populous nation twice as a military dictator and a democratic president, died on Sunday<\/a> at age 82 and is being remembered as a divisive figure who oversaw one of the country’s most troubled periods.<\/p>\n \u201cHe inherited unprecedented goodwill and squandered it,” Olive Chiemerie, a Lagos-based writer, told The Associated Press. “His legacy is one of missed opportunities, deepening inequality and a country left to pick up the pieces.\u201d<\/p>\n Here are some highlights of Buhari’s presidency:<\/p>\n \u2018EndSARS\u2019 protests<\/p>\n In October 2020, thousands of youths took to the streets<\/a> to protest against the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, or SARS, a police unit accused by rights groups and others of extrajudicial killings, torture and extortion.<\/p>\n Buhari initially responded by disbanding the unit. As the protests grew stronger with broader demands for better governance, however, his government deployed security forces to resist the demonstrations.<\/p>\n On Oct. 20, soldiers opened fire at peaceful protesters in the economic hub of Lagos, killing at least 12 people, according to rights groups. Buhari didn’t acknowledge the shootings in a nationwide address<\/a> that called protesters \u201crioters\u201d and warned them against \u201cundermining national security.”<\/p>\n Ban on Twitter<\/p>\n Months after the protests, many Nigerians took their anger online, mostly on Twitter, to rail against institutional corruption, economic woes and escalating insecurity.<\/p>\n The matter spiked after Twitter removed a tweet from Buhari\u2019s account about a secessionist movement, calling it abusive. The Nigerian government responded by suspending access<\/a> to the platform for seven months.<\/p>\n That further heightened concerns over human rights. As a military dictator in Nigeria in the 1980s, Buhari had brooked little criticism. As president, he detained political opponents and several journalists. Nigerian police operatives once stormed a courtroom to re-arrest activist Omoyele Sowore, drawing outrage from the judge and many Nigerians.<\/p>\n An ailing economy<\/p>\n Buhari pursued economic policies that Nigerians said imposed huge strains on the economy, forcing it to dip into recession<\/a> in 2016 and 2020.<\/p>\n In 2019, he closed the border to all goods with the goal of spurring local production, especially of agricultural products, which sparked surging inflation.<\/p>\n In the face of a dollar shortage as a result of a slump in oil production and falling oil prices globally, his government pegged the local currency to the dollar at an artificial rate, worsening the naira’s value.<\/p>\n \u201cBuhari left a legacy of debt that continues to sabotage the economic efforts of his successors,\u201d said Akeem Alao, a teacher in Lagos.<\/p>\n Security crises<\/p>\n Buhari’s administration failed to rid Nigeria of its security woes \u2014 a key election promise and an ambitious one in a country long threatened by Boko Haram extremists and a breakaway faction<\/a>. The years of violence have killed at least 35,000 people<\/a> and displaced more than 2 million.<\/p>\n While Buhari was president, the extremists expanded beyond the northeast and partnered with other armed groups in the north to carry out attacks, including on a passenger train near the capital, Abuja, and a jailbreak there<\/a>.<\/p>\n Buhari’s government often declared that Boko Haram had been \u201ctechnically defeated,\u201d to the scorn of critics.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n