Scores of members of
the Islamic Movement in Nigeria were injured on Monday in Abuja during a clash
with policemen at the Maitama area of the city.
It was gathered that
the police arrested about 115 Shiite members who were protesting against the
continued incarceration of their leader, Sheik Ibrahim El-Zakyzaky, by the
Federal Government.
The protesters had
moved to the National Human Rights Commission when the police swooped on them
and fired tear gas canisters at them to break up the protest.
The Shiite members in
turn, threw stones at the policemen, damaging many parked vehicles and injuring
passersby and motorists.
Their action infuriated
the cops who responded with live bullets, some of which hit the Nigerian
Communications Commission building and other offices in the vicinity.
The security personnel
also scalded the mob with hot water from their cannon truck.
The development
paralysed commercial activities in the area as everyone fled while vehicles
avoided the neighbourhood.
The police had last
Friday cordoned off the Unity Fountain where the Shiite members usually hold
their rallie
They also arrested an activist
and convener, Concerned Citizens, Deji Adeyanju, who had been championing the
protests for over seven weeks.
The activist was also
said to have been detained at the police command shortly after the clash
between the police and the Shiite members on Monday.
A member of the IMN,
Mohammed Gamawa, accused the police of firing live bullets at the protesters.
He said many of the injured were taken to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad
office.
Gamawa said, “As I am
talking to you, I’m at a hospital in Gwarimpa, receiving treatment for tear gas
inhalation. We have about 115 members that were taken away, some of them with
bullet injuries.”
“When they take them to
SARS office, they would not treat them and so far, six of our members have been
left to bleed to death from gunshot injuries since we commenced our daily
protests about 80 days ago.”
When asked about the
damage to some cars by his members, Gamawa denied that Shiite members did the
damage, noting that the police might have hired thugs to vandalise the cars.
“Our members were not
involved in vandalising the vehicles; there is probability that the police
hired some thugs to do that. It is not in our character. Last Friday, they
fired tear gas canisters at my car in order to burn it. They would have told
the world that we set the car on fire, but it was my car they fired at,” he
said.
Also, the group in a
statement said the police were out to portray the movement as violent in
nature, adding that it would not relent on its peaceful protest until El-Zakzaky
was released from detention.
The statement signed by
the IMN’s spokesman, Ibrahim Musa, said what happened was a show of shame.
The statement read in
part, “What happened today in Abuja was purely a show of shame by the police,
who are hell-bent on forcibly stopping our legitimate campaign for the
government to obey the orders of its courts by freeing Sheikh Zakzaky.
“This is a legitimate
struggle. We have a right to protest and assemble peacefully. This we have done
in Abuja and all other places peacefully for almost two and half years now. We
have stepped up the campaign in Abuja since the last 100 days (and it is
noteworthy that it had been peaceful) with daily protest at the unity fountain
and processions.
“Last week, the
authorities used combat ready policemen to forcibly stop the rotest. They also
arbitrarily arrested Deji, one of the conveners of the protest. He was clearly
told that ‘the government is uncomfortable with the free Zakzaky campaign’
going on in Abuja. He was told to stop it.
“Clearly, they have
been looking for ways to infiltrate the protest and give it a semblance of riot
so that they could use that as an excuse.
“We are the victims. No
amount of cheap blackmail will make us to succumb. Our protest has always been
peaceful and we have proved this to the world beyond any reasonable doubt, even
in the face of extreme provocation.”
Shittes injured 22
policemen –PPRO
The Federal Capital
Territory police spokesman, Anjuguri Manzah, said the protesters destroyed
police vehicles and injured 22 policemen.
He added that the 115
Shiite members that were arrested would be taken to court.
He explained that the
rioters attacked residents and smashed vehicle windscreens, noting that the
police recovered catapults, iron bars, stones, ball bearings and pink headbands
from them.
“The FCT Police Command
hereby warns members of Shiite movement against further disrupting the peace,
harmony and free flow of traffic in FCT. Anyone caught in the act of violent
demonstration or any act capable of causing the breach of public peace will be
made to face the wrath of the law,” Manzah said in a statement.
PDP calls for inquest
The Peoples Democratic
Party on Monday demanded an “immediate inquest” into the violent clash between
security forces and members of the Shiite movement.
The party, in a
statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, in Abuja
said it was gravely worried over the handling of security in the nation’s
capital and the near breakdown of law and order which it said resulted in a
stampede and disruption of public and private business in the city centre.
He said, “The PDP has
noted that the development is linked with protests over the continued refusal
of the Federal Government to release the leader of the group, Sheik Ibrahim
El-Zakzaky, despite being granted bail by courts of competent jurisdiction.
“The party further
notes the continued show of force and infringements on the rights of citizens
by this administration.
“Furthermore, the PDP
and indeed all lovers of democracy across the country are deeply concerned by
the continued erosion of democratic tenets by the All Progressives Congress
administration, resulting in avoidable crisis in various parts of the country.
“The PDP sues for calm
while demanding an immediate inquest into the cause of this clash.”
Falana flays attack
Human rights lawyer,
Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), condemned the attack on Shi’ites.
Falana was the
detainees’ lawyer who on December 2, 2016, obtained the judgment of the Federal
High Court in Abuja, ordering some members’ release from the custody of the
State Security Service.
The Federal Government
has yet to comply with the judgment.
Falana declared on
Monday that the detainees must be released in compliance with the order of the
Federal High Court if the government was “genuinely desirous” of stopping the
protest.
He said the “violent
attack in which some of the protesters were killed and injured by security
forces is barbaric.”
He said the attack,
which he described as “totally unacceptable,” was staged “in a desperate bid to
stop the Shiites from further exposing the lawlessness of the Federal Government”.
He maintained that the
security forces had “breached the fundamental rights of the protesters to life,
freedom from torture, freedom of assembly and freedom of expression.”
He said, “The violent
attack unleashed on the Shiites this afternoon by a combined team of armed
soldiers, police and state security service personnel is totally
unacceptable in a democratic society.
“It is highly
condemnable as it was uncalled for.
“In order to press for
the release of their detained leader, Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, and his wife,
the Shiites have staged peaceful protests in Abuja since last week.
“This morning, security
forces attacked the peaceful rally, killed some of the protesters and injured others in a barbaric attack in a
desperate bid to stop the Shiites from further exposing the lawlessness of the Federal Government.
“In the process, the
security forces breached the fundamental rights of the protesters to life,
freedom from torture, freedom of assembly and freedom of expression.
“The Federal Government
has not adduced any justifiable reason why it has continued to incarcerate the
Elzakzakys in utter contempt of the Federal High Court.”
NIM slams Buhari
The Nigeria
Intervention Movement also criticized the Buhari-led Federal Government for the
harassment of Shi’ites in Abuja.
The NIM, which is
headed by a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Dr. Olisa
Agbakoba (SAN), and a former presidential candidate, Dr. Abdujalil
Tafawa-Balewa, said it would hold a rally in solidarity with them.
The movement said this
in a statement by its Deputy-Director General, Mallam Nasser Kura, adding that
trigger-happy policemen must be arrested.
The statement read in
part, “We hereby demand that indicted
trigger happy police operatives involved in this unfortunate cruelty and
criminality be immediately brought to book and withdrawn from further
confronting the peaceful protest of the Shi’ites movement.”
The NIM also demanded
an apology and compensation for Shi’ite members.
Copyright PUNCH.
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