Poland says seven of its nationals did not fly Russian flags in Kano, a city in North-West Nigeria.

Andrzej Szejna, Polish Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, told private radio station RMF FM that the six students and the teacher “were in the wrong place at the wrong time”.

The seven Polish nationals were accused of playing a “suspicious role” in protests against government policies and economic hardship, the Department of State Services said upon their arrest on Thursday.

The Polish foreign ministry, however, said they were students and a teacher.

Africa’s most populous country is struggling with its worst cost-of-living crisis in years after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu introduced reforms to help revive the economy and foreign investment.

A week of protests across the country eased after a security crackdown, which rights group Amnesty International said left 21 people dead. Police and security forces say seven people have died, and deny they are responsible for the deaths.

Security agents have also arrested dozens of people for waving Russian flags in protests, behaviour similar to recent rallies in nearby Niger and Burkina Faso, where coups installed military governments that have moved closer to Moscow.

The seven Polish citizens were arrested in the northwestern state of Kano “over their suspicious role in the protest and flying of Russian flags”, according to a spokesman for the Department of State Security or DSS, which handles national security threats.

The DSS did not give any more details about what the seven had allegedly been doing in the protest.

But Andrzej Szejna said the six students and the teacher “were in the wrong place at the wrong time”.

Warsaw University said in a statement that the Chancellor of Bayero University in Kano assured it that “the students are safe and are currently in Abuja”.

“The university authorities are acting in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Polish and foreign consular services and other institutions, and are also in contact with the families of the students,” the statement added.

Since the protests began, Tinubu has made an address to the nation, appealing for patience with the reforms, which the government says will improve the economy in the long term.

But the country’s military command this week also said protests had been hijacked by “sponsors” intent on subverting the government.

Tagged #EndbadGovernanceinNigeria, the protest movement won support with an online campaign that called for the government to reduce fuel prices and tackle the cost-of-living crisis, among other demands.