Shiites’ Recent Clashes Will Not Be Tolerated – Lai Mohammed

Lai Mohammed has slammed the conduct of members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), also called Shiites, who have been involved in deadly clashes with the Nigerian Army over the past few weeks.

Shiites have been involved in several clashes with security agencies, most notably the Army, over demands for the release of its spiritual leader, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, who’s been in custody for nearly three years.

400 IMN members were arrested by officers of the Nigeria Police Force for disturbance of public peace and law and order in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Tuesday, October 30, 2018. They were alleged to have set a Police vehicle on fire, and arrested with 31 bottles of petrol bombs and other dangerous weapons.

A previous clash on Saturday, October 27, where the Army accused Shiite protesters of attacking a convoy carrying ammunitions, resulted in the death of three people, with a couple of soldiers also wounded.

The protesters returned on Monday, October 29 and got involved in another clash with the Army and the Police. While the Army reported that another three Shiites were killed, the Shia sect claimed around 50 were killed by troops.

While addressing the media after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Wednesday, November 7, 2018, Mohammed said the conduct of the Shia sect has gotten more violent over time and left authorities with no choice but to defend the nation’s sovereignty.

The minister said the sect’s recent clashes with the Army would not be tolerated by any government across the world. Explaining the events that led to the killings of Shiites, he said the Army was forced to defend itself against theft of ammunitions against the sect who he reiterated attacked troops.

He said, “It’s important to know that the IMN generally don’t recognise any government at all and what transpired on the 24th and the 27th and 29th (of October) is a situation whereby no government in the world would tolerate this.

“When you look at the history of the IMN, they have been demonstrating and protesting the last two years in Abuja here. Anytime they’re protesting or demonstrating, the Police would provide a cordon and protect them but they’re getting more and more violent.

“What happened on the 24th of October was a very very serious matter. A convoy of the military was escorting a convoy of missiles and ammunitions from the headquarters to the Kaduna central depot and they sought to take it over.

“Of course, no responsible Army or country would allow that. In the process, few people were killed because they had to protect the sovereignty of Nigeria.

“On the 27th, they went and actually took over a checkpoint pelting motorists, breaking their windscreens in Zuba. the Police had to withdraw and the military had to come in.”