Shiites deny killing policeman in Kaduna protest

Members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, otherwise known as ‘Shiites’, have denied killing a police officer during their clash with the police on Thursday.

The Shiites members had, between Wednesday and Thursday, besieged the Kaduna metropolis to protest the continued detention of their leader, Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, and his wife, Zeena, by the state.

The reported killing,  also coincided with the arraignment of El-Zakzaky before the Kaduna State High Court along the Ibrahim Taiwo Road in the heart of the city.

The group alleged that 23 of its members had been killed by the police in Kaduna since 2015, whereas they had never killed anybody in any of their processions.

The IMN further alleged that the death of the policeman was executed by thugs allegedly contracted by the police to smear their image.

Addressing a news conference on Saturday, Prof. Abdullahi Danladi of the Resource Forum of the Islamic Movement, an arm of the IMN, said, “It was in the news that a policeman was allegedly killed by the members of the Islamic movement in Nigeria during a free-Zakzaky-procession.

“To back up the story, there was a video recording supposedly of ‘Shiites’  members lynching  a policeman that went viral on the Internet.

“Most certainly, this is not true at all. It is the greatest subterfuge of all times.

“This was to discredit us in order to turn the tables against us.”

The group therefore called on the police to stop intimidating its members.

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