We’ll continue to engage security operatives until… ― Shiites members

MEMBERS of Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), on Tuesday, vowed not to be deterred by the actions and onslaught on their members by the security operative until their leader, Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky and his wife who have been in detention since December 2015, regain their freedom.

One of their leaders, Abdullahi Muhammad, who told newsmen, shortly after engaging security personnel in Abuja, vowed that no amount of intimidation and attacks from security agencies would make them suspend the protest.

He said if the government wants the protest to end, it should release their leader and other members who were still being held in custody by security agencies.

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According to him, “we are not suspending the protest until they do the right thing. If they like let them continue to kill our members, if they have bullets to waste, we have the chest to collect the bullet.”

Meanwhile, a Christian group, Young Christian Forum (YCF), Abuja Chapter has raised the alarm over the persistent Shiites and security agencies clash in the Federal Capital Territory(FCT) leading to several deaths of members of the sect who have vowed not to suspend the protest until government releases their leader, Sheikh El’ Zalzaky.

To the shock of both the security agencies and residents, the sect were not deterred by the violent clashes between them and the military in Nyanya area of the city on Monday, leading to several deaths and injuries of their members.

They were able to beat all the security networks at almost all the major entry points into the town, to gather at the Headquarters of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in Maitama.

The peaceful protest, however, turned violent when the police shot sporadically, and with canisters of tear gas, in an attempt to disperse them at the Central District Area. In the process, some members sustained various degrees of injuries.

The Chaplain and President of the forum, Reverend Jolly Egbe who raised the alarm in a statement, warned that apart from the 2019 elections been threatened by the Shiites protest, it would also snowball into a national tragedy if urgent step was not taken.

“Residents of the FCT moved around then with fear not knowing when and where the next bomb would detonate, which ultimately made palpable tension evident in the Federal Capital Territory.

“However, all of these changed when the Nigeria Army intensified its counterterrorism operations, especially in North East Nigeria and the federal capital territory.

“Consequently, the FCT has continued to experience peace and stability since 2015. There is no doubt that life was restored to public places such as gardens, airports, mosques, churches and offices that were difficult to visit without the fear of bombs.

“We are however, constrained to lend our voice to the growing threat that the members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria have continued to pose to residents of the federal capital territory in recent times, which if not nipped in the bud, is capable of taking us back to the dark years where residents in the federal capital territory lived in fear of terror.

“The members of the IMN in recent times have constituted themselves into a threat to national peace and tranquillity, and we are all witnesses to the numerous occasions where they have indeed disrupted activities in the FCT with impunity. For the records, it is good to mention that this group has closed markets several times and prevented adherents of other religions from worshipping.

“The Young Christians Forum is indeed worried about this trend and is also of the opinion that the relevant security agencies must rise to the occasion in an attempt to save the residents of the FCT from the agony of going about their daily activities in fear.

“While this is of great national importance, it would also indeed save the country as a whole the international embarrassment that is usually associated with terrorist activities.

“It is also succinct to add that that members of the diplomatic community are resident in the FCT and at the risk of creating a panic mode, the relevant security agencies must address this threat once and for all.

“Nigeria would also be at risk of losing vital international investments if the activities of members of the IMN are not curtailed.

“Their foreign sponsors have continued to threaten the sovereignty of our dear country and the proximity of the next election is not far from why they have renewed their threats to us as a people.” The forum stressed.