By Muhammad Farouk Police opened fire on a Quds day procession held by members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria known as Shittes in Abu...
By Muhammad Farouk
Police opened fire on a Quds day procession held by members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria known as Shittes in Abuja killing a 15-year-old boy. The Islamic movement in Nigeria under Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky is the largest organisation representing Shias in the country.
Dozens of others were injured in the incident on Friday, April 14, as a procession moved through the Wuse district of the capital, the Islamic movement said in a press release.
A group of hundreds of people from the organisation were marking International Quds Day, the procession was to show solidarity with Palestinians, and the attack was unprovoked, the movement said in its statement.
When contacted, the FCT Police Command spokesperson, Josephine Adeh said “No comment” and hung up the phone.
An eyewitness told HumAngle the procession, waving Palestinian flags and bearing pictures of prominent Shia clerics, was proceeding “calmly” from the Fouad Labibidi Mosque in Wuse Zone 3, toward Berger Roundabout when it encountered a checkpoint of the Nigerian Police Force and they began firing at the crowd.
People living in the area said they heard dozens of shots fired.
Bloodied body
The child who was killed was named as 15-year-old Yaqoub Umar.
The Islamic movement released pictures of a man carrying a bloodied body, running to seek medical attention. It also released pictures of the slain young man in life, wearing sunglasses and a keffiyeh scarf. The release said he had been “martyred”.
In a statement issued after the attack, the Islamic movement said, “Expressing support for the oppressed is part of our religious duties, and the police have no right to stop us from exercising our religious duties and beliefs. We consider the attack barbaric and unprofessional.”
For 30 years, the Movement has conducted similar processions, some have ended in bloodshed. In September 2009, three people were killed in the same event while in July 2014, 35 people were killed, including three sons of the Movement leader, Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky.
In March six young supporters of the IMN were killed in Kaduna when a street protest met a government convoy and the police escort opened fire. The Kaduna police said the protestors were the aggressors and it had acted “professionally”.
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