The Nigerian
Police again today, clashed with some Shiite protesters who were protesting the
prolonged detention of their leader, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky.
The members of the Islamic
Movement in Nigeria (IMN) who threw stones and other objects, causing damage to
cars and buildings in Maitama area of Abuja after they had stormed the National
Communications Commission (NCC) to stage a peaceful protest, were teargassed by
police officers to disperse them.
NAN gathered that the sect
members engaged the police with stones and other missiles and smashed glasses
of some vehicles parked in and around the NHRC building.
They also pelted the police
water cannon vehicle deployed to disperse them with stones, wounding some of
the policemen, while some of the sect members ran into one of the uncompleted
buildings beside the commission.
The police later called for
re-enforcement, leading to deployment of more personnel with sniffer dogs to
comb the building. Here are photos below;
The Islamic movement has
been agitating for the release of their leader, Sheik Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, who
has been in detention since December 2016.
Today’s protest is coming
less than a week after the Shiite protesters and police clashed in Wuse area of
Abuja.
Police officers had
dispersed the protesters with water cannons and tear gas after they assembled
at Wuse and were processing towards the Berger junction area.
Police authorities later
explained that 115 members of the El-Zakzaky Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN)
were arrested after the protest for attacking innocent citizens, disrupting
business activities, obstructing traffic movement and smashing the windscreen
of innocent citizens’ vehicles in the affected areas.
Although the senior officer
declined to comment further, however when contacted, the Spokesman of the FCT
Police Command, DSP Anjuguri Manzah, said that he had not gotten details of the
incident and, therefore, declined further comments on the arrest of the Shitte
members.
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