Police teargas protesting shi’ites in Abuja

The protest by the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) also known as Shi’ites continued in Abuja as men of the Nigerian Police dispersed the protesters with teargas.

The Shi’ites had continued their protest demanding for the unconditional release of their leader, Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky and his wife who had been granted bail by the court on many occasions.

The protest, which kick-started at Sky memorial, and terminated at the Berger Bridge, was interrupted by police who started teargassing, according to the Abdullahi Musa in a statement issued on behalf of IMN.

“Protesting against a perceived outrage from a government is a right inalienable from every citizen of the state, let alone innocent victims of the crimes that are so conspicuous even by a quick rub of the blind, and we cannot fold our arms, seeing our rights being trampled upon.

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“Unfortunately, the police are involved in the wanton bloodshed, the vicious results of Saudi-cum-America-sponsored state terrorism against a people whose honest contributions to peaceful coexistence can never be undermined.

“It is obvious that Sheikh Zakzaky has become a target for elimination, they started from his house, it failed, they kept him in DSS Custody for four years without medication, it failed, they transferred him to the Kaduna central prison and denied him access to basic needs and medication, it failed. Now they want to use Court to complete the agenda.

“Four years ago, the Nigerian army attacked the Hussainiyyah Baqiyyatullah and, above all, Sheikh Zakzaky’s residence at Gyallesu and Dar al-Rahma at Dembo village. They massacred over a thousand people: 297 women, among whom 23 were heavily pregnant; 548 men and 193 children. Within a very short stint, 39 families were wiped out from the face of the earth.

“The army committed heinous crimes which included setting buildings and other properties ablaze, burning people alive, dumping their bodies in mass graves. They demolished all the fire-damaged buildings. At Dar al-Rahma, where many martyrs had been buried, after pulling down the structures, they exhumed some of the graves,” the statement noted.

“All we are saying is our leader Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky together with his wife should be released immediately and unconditionally,” the statement added.