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Police Arrest 42 Shiite Members In Abuja

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Police Arrest 42 Shiite Protesters In Abuja
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Forty-two members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) popularly known as Shiites have been arrested by the Nigerian Police Force.

Speaking with reporters in Abuja on Tuesday, spokesperson for the FCT Police Command, Josephine Adeh, said the suspects were apprehended for being involved in violent protests at the Kubwa-Gwarimpa axis of Abuja.

She added that the suspects who carried charms, stones and some minor explosives, stormed the area in large numbers, obstructing traffic, throwing stones and explosives at security agents.

According to Adeh, police operatives had been able to disperse the protesters and brought the situation under control.

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The FCT police spokesperson added that no casualty was recorded during the protest but some of the protesters sustained injuries.

She, however, revealed that the protesters came from Niger, Bauchi, Gombe, Borno and Kaduna states to cause mayhem in the FCT.

Meanwhile, a crossfire in Abuja between soldiers of the Nigerian Army and Shiite (IMN) protesters on Tuesday has resulted in the death of some persons with many others also injured.

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It was gathered that not less than six IMN members are feared dead as a result of the clash with security operatives in the nation’s capital city.

The clash was said to have occurred around Gwarimpa, close to Galadimawa in Abuja just as the Shiites were about to round off their Arbaeen Symbolic Trek.

The development caused huge confusion as the Shiite members as well as other residents and passers-by scampered for safety in the chaos that ensued.

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The Secretary of Academic Forum of IMN, Abdullahi Musa who confirmed the incident alleged that the soldiers opened fire on the Shiite members and carried the bodies of the dead persons away.

He however was unable to confirm the number of casualties involved or why the security forces attacked the protesters.

“They are just shooting people. As I am talking to you now, six people have been killed. They even carried some dead bodies away,” he said.