BREAKING: Police, Shi’ites Clash In Abuja
FILE PHOTO[/caption]
Tear gas and rubber bullets rent the air mid-afternoon on Thursday in Abuja, Nigeria’s federal capital territory as the police engaged members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (MIN) known popularly as Shi’ites in a game of wits.
The Shi’ites mostly dressed in blacks were on a peaceful protest to the Unity Fountain located between the Three Arms Zone and high scale Maitama District when they were encountered by the police who tried to stop their advancement to the fountain.
As the protestors continued to break through the ranks of the police formation at IBB road by British Council, the police resorted to the use of teargas causing pandemonium and stampede amongst the MIN members and road users.
Advertisement
The leader of the MIN, Ibrahim Elzakzaky has been in the custody of the Nigerian government for over ten months now after the army and Shi’ites clashed in the northern town of Zaria, Kaduna state.
Thereafter, the army allegedly killed hundreds of Shi’ites in the dead of night and buried them in a mass grave, Amnesty International said, a claim the army had denied.
Trouble started when the chief of army staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai was denied passage on the Kaduna-Kano road by some Shi’ites, which led to heated argument between the two before some Shi’ites were killed by the army.
More details soon…
Advertisement
Watch Video:
