On Wednesday, members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), also known as Shiites, accused the police of killing four of their members and seizing their bodies during a clash at Wuse Market in Abuja last Sunday. The incident occurred as the Shiites were holding a procession to mourn the assassination of Sayyed Hussain, a grandson of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
The clash resulted in the deaths of two policemen and a trader, while three other policemen sustained injuries. SP Josephine Adeh, the Police Public Relations Officer for the FCT Police Command, stated that the IMN members attacked the police during the confrontation.
In response, Ibrahim Abdullahi Musa, Secretary of the IMN Academic Forum, refuted the claim that they killed any policemen. Instead, he asserted that three of their members were killed at Wuse Market and the fourth in the Mabushi area. Musa emphasized that the police were informed about the procession in advance, as the FCT police commissioner had contacted one of their lawyers to discuss the event’s details for security purposes. Despite this, Musa claimed the police fired at the protesters, who were only holding placards.
Musa also reported that approximately 14 other IMN members were injured by gunfire and are receiving treatment from the group. Additionally, he claimed that the police had similarly taken six corpses of their members in 2019, which were only returned three months ago following a court order.
The FCT PPRO, Adeh, could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.
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