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One Killed, Several Injured As Police Attack Shiites Protesters In Abuja

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Police Arrest 42 Shiite Protesters In Abuja

An unidentified man was allegedly killed on Monday when policemen reportedly opened fire at members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), otherwise known as ‘Shiites’ protesting the continued detention of their leader, Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky.

Naija News reports that El-Zakzaky and his wife, Zeenat have been in detention since 2015 despite various court orders directing government to release them.

It was gathered that the protesters took off from the Transcorp junction and where heading towards the National Human Rights Commission office when policemen opened fire at them.

According to SaharaReporters, three protesters sustained gunshot injuries from bullets fired by the police and were rushed to an undisclosed hospital for treatment.

Members of the sect had on Monday staged a protest to mark the 70th birthday anniversary of their leader.

The Secretary of the Academic Forum of the Movement, Abdullahi Musa, who confirmed the incident, described the brutal force and use of live ammunition on unarmed protesters as “barbaric and uncivilised”.

Musa called for the arrest and prosecution of the officers behind the shootings.

The ‘secret trial’ of the IMN leader and his wife, Zeenat, began on November 18, 2020, at a Kaduna State High Court.

The Kaduna State Government charged El-Zakzaky and Zeenat with eight counts bordering on alleged culpable homicide, unlawful assembly and disruption of the public peace, among others.