Shiites, Police clash claims four lives in Kaduna state

The clash between members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), also known as Shiites with the police on Friday in Kaduna has claimed four lives, as well as three police officers sustaining various degree of injuries.

Penpushing reports that the members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) were conducting a procession in solidarity with Palestinians in the ongoing conflict in Gaza with Israel when at about 11.00am the clash occurred

The Kaduna State Government it is recalled had prescribed the group from operating in the state years back, and on the latest crash the leaders of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) claimed that apart from those who lost their lives 20 other members sustained injuries in the incident.

Penpushing further reports that the leader of the Shites in Kaduna State, Aliyu Turmizi, said the members were peacefully rallying to show support for the people of Gaza, similar to actions in many Western countries opposing the Gaza conflict, adding that the processions were peaceful until the police attacked them.

‘We are only out to show our support to our Palestinian brothers in Gaza; that was when the police attacked us. The information reaching me now is that four of our members were martyred, and about 20 others sustained injuries’, he said.

Penpushing also reports that Turmizi said as at the time of filing this report the group was still compiling the names of the victims, declaring that the group would not be deterred from supporting the Palestinians.

The Kaduna State Police Command Public Relations Officer, Mansir Hassan, however, denied killing any member of the group, explaining that their personnel did not use live ammunition while dispersing the group from the streets.

Penpushing reports that Hassan, said three police officers sustained injuries while trying to disperse the members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) during street procession, adding that the Shites members used stones, catapults, and locally made guns to attack the police.

‘We received information that the members of the proscribed IMN were going to hold a massive protest in the state, and the command deployed its men to strategic places to prevent them from blocking the road, especially Ahmadu Bello Way in Kaduna’, he said.

‘On sighting our deployed men, the IMN members started throwing stones, catapults, and locally made guns at our men, leading to three of our men sustaining injuries and now receiving treatment at the police clinic’, Hassan added.

Penpushing further reports that he said the police used tear gas to disperse the members and arrested eight of them, and listed items recovered from the suspects as include three locally fabricated guns, catapults, and other dangerous locally made weapons, adding that an investigation into the clash was ongoing.

‘If they claimed four of their members were killed, where are the bodies, and which hospital were they taken to? How can we identify them? Our men didn’t use live ammunition but only used tear gas to disperse them,” he said.

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