Two police officers were gruesomely killed on Sunday, following a bloody clash between operatives of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command and members of the Proscribed Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) popularly known as Shi’ites.

The command while reacting to the incident, accused the Shi’ite sect of an “unprovoked attack” on its men at Wuse junction by a traffic light. The command said the group attacked its men with stones, wielding machetes, locally made explosives, and knives.

A civilian was killed and three officers were said to be unconscious at the time of the incident. The command further noted that the group razed three vehicles, but ensured it arrested some of the members of the group while investigation continued.

However, the IMN denied these claims, accusing the police command of opening fire on its “unarmed” members during a procession, which it described as “religious” observed by Shi’ites across the world.

A leader of the IMN group, Abdullahi Musa who led the procession on Sunday in Abuja, said the two-day trek which kicked off on Saturday, was aimed at joining its members around the globe in solidarity with the brutal assassination of Imam Husain (AS), a revolutionary leader who sacrificed his life fighting against injustice, tyranny and oppression.

Speaking to THE WHISTLER, Musa revealed that contrary to the narratives of the police, its members had duly informed the public, through a statement and the FCT Police Command through a letter, issued by its lawyer before embarking on the procession.

The procession, according to Musa witnessed large followers who were carrying out the Arbaeen symbolic trek from Mararaba and Masaka in Nasarawa State and Suleja in Niger State, “accompanied by soldiers who watched and guided the movement before they dispersed.”

He said, “Before we embarked on this procession, we had issued a statement since Friday, to let the public know that the usual Arbaeen trek is going to take place on Saturday and Sunday, and this statement was published.

“The commissioner of police was invited and he was fully aware. Before we came in the morning, they had asked us where we were starting the procession and we told them. We decided to divide ourselves into two. The initial plan was to take off from Banex so that people could converge at the Wuse market bridge.

“Unfortunately, early in the morning on Sunday, the police went and dropped six vans of fully armed policemen at Banex and Berger under the bridge. When we saw this, we decided to change routes, so we would not have issues with them because we know they usually attack us.

“If police came to protect you, would they come with armoured tanks and boxes of ammunition? Will they come to protect you during a procession, is that how they do? because this is not the first time, they always attacked us.”

The Nigeria Police and the IMN have a long history of clashes following the nature of their procession often involving roadblocks, thus, inconveniencing commuters. Consequently, hundreds of its members have been arrested and an unspecified number killed since the detention of its leader, Shiekh Ibraheem El-Zalzaky in 2015.

In April 2018, the police justified the arrest of 115 Shi’ites after they (IMN) stormed the capital city areas demanding the release of El-Zalzaky, subsequently released in 2021 after a long journey in and out of court. Reports said, the protesters threw stones and other objects damaging cars and buildings in the area.

However, Musa noted that before the release of its leader, 79 people had been allegedly killed during its processions, and 11 others since his release. He said it was on this premise that they discontinued previously planned routes yet got attacked by police operatives.

“We decided to go to Wuse Zone 3 junction and then trek to Wuse market, but before we arrived at Wuse market, we heard that they had arrested some of our brothers and sisters.

“We didn’t talk to them, but as we arrived at Wuse market, Wallahi, I swear to God almighty, I was in the front, and we were holding placards and citing in Arabic, ‘Imam Husain, we are with you and we are matching in solidarity’ and carrying flag signifying ‘Ashura’ and these people opened fire, not even tear-gas.

“They opened fire with live ammunition, I was there, and everybody started running. So, I am not aware of all these allegations they are saying that our people killed police. How? Were we armed? We were not armed. We were only carrying placards. Is a placard a weapon? If the people knew that we were armed, they would not face us.

“In July 2019, the police attacked us at the secretariat, they killed a journalist, an assistant police commissioner and 11 of our people, six corpses were with them. We issued a statement that police killed us and six corpses were with them, and months after the court ordered them to release the corpses.”

Musa noted that the IMN is yet to identify the precise number of its members that have been arrested or killed. He puts his response to that inquiry as “a lot of people were arrested”, but told THE WHISTLER, that he sighted the body of a slain member being taken away by officers in the Mabushi area of the city.

“They didn’t allow us to carry the guy for medication until he died. They carried him and threw him inside their van and left. These people are criminals in uniforms. We have insecurity in the country, the government is claiming bandits are killing people in the bush.”

In a further response to the police report of razing police vehicles, Musa said, “Today we found out that there is a brother who was arrested by Policemen in mufti, looking like Agberos (touts). It is the policemen in mufti that set those vehicles ablaze.

“If there is any officer that was killed, he was killed by his fellow officers in mufti or uniforms. We do not kill anyone, but advocate for a better life for Nigeria.”

A Human Rights Watch report stated that El-Zakzaky survived gunshot wounds following the army clampdown that killed over 300 members of the Shiite group in 2015. However, the group said the soldiers killed over 1000 of its members between December 12 and 14, 2015.

A judicial panel of enquiry set up by the Kaduna State Government confirmed 349 deaths including a soldier. The 348 Shi’ites were secretly buried in mass graves by soldiers without family members’ permission, making it difficult to determine an accurate death toll.

Culled from The Whistler