Members of the proscribed Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), popularly known as Shiites, on Wednesday, accused the police of killing four of their members and taking their corpses away during last Sunday’s clash around the Wuse Market in Abuja.
Recall that two policemen and a trader were killed in the clash as the Shiites staged a procession to mourn the assassination of Sayyed Hussain, a grandson of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
Three other policemen were injured in the clash, according to the Police Public Relations Officer of the FCT Police Command, SP Josephine Adeh, who accused the IMN members of attacking the police in the process.
But IMN’s Secretary of Academic Forum, Ibrahim Abdullahi Musa, in a reaction on Wednesday, denied the allegation of killing policemen.
He, however, said that three of their members were killed at the Wuse Market area, while the fourth person was killed in the Mabushi axis.
According to him, “The police were well aware about the procession, as the police commissioner of the FCT command contacted one of our lawyers who informed him about the locations where the procession would start and wound up. He said the information was necessary in order to give us a security cover, but what happened was contrary, as they opened fire towards the protesters (sic) who were not holding anything apart from placards.”
Musa added that about 14 other members sustained gun injuries and were being treated by the group at a location, in addition to those arrested by the police with various degrees of injury.
The IMN spokesman claimed that the police did the same thing in 2019; took six corpses of their members, who according to him, were released about three months ago following a court order.
FCT PPRO, Adeh, could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.
