Fierce clashes
have erupted for the second consecutive day between Nigerian police and
hundreds of Shia protesters demanding the release of top Shia cleric
Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky.
The latest clashes broke out after police fired teargas at members of
the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) and activists from several other
civil society groups in Wuse Market area of Abuja at midday on Tuesday.
Media reports said scores of protesters were also detained by armed
police wearing bulletproof vests and gas masks during the clashes.
"We’ve come under serious attack today," said Deji Adeyanju of
Concerned Nigerians, a civil society group involved in the
demonstration.
"The more they attack the more (we) come out," Deji said, adding, "We want to defy tyranny and a dictatorship."
Police also used live ammunition as they forcefully dispersed angry
protesters in Abuja on Monday. Organizers said at least one demonstrator
had been killed and several others injured.
According to local media, at least 115 protesters were also detained by Nigerian security forces at the massive protest rally.
The protests, which started from the Unity Fountain, created tension
in the capital city as the protesters were seen marching in their large
numbers, chanting slogans and calling for the release of Sheikh Zakzaky. The photo, circulating on social media, shows Nigerian
police using water cannon against Shia protesters in Abuja on April 16,
2018.
A number of videos uploaded on social media showed wreaths of tear
gas enveloping Abuja's streets in the upmarket Maitama district, near
the landmark Transcorp Hilton Hotel. Other videos showed protesters
pelting an armored police vehicle with rocks before it sped away, and
people fleeing the area.
Earlier this year, at least two young students were killed by
security forces during protests for Sheikh Zakzaky’s release in Kaduna,
which broke out on January 7.
The violent repression of Shia Muslims has drawn accusations that
President Muhammadu Buhari's government is abusing human rights.
Sheikh Zakzaky has been detained without trial for over two years.
The IMN says Zakzaky must be freed after a court ruled his detention
without charge illegal.
The top Shia cleric lost his left eyesight in the raid, which was
carried out by the Nigerian army on his residence in the northern town
of Zaria in December 2015. The undated photo shows supporters of top Shia cleric Sheikh
Ibrahim Zakzaky during a rally in the northern Nigerian city of Kano.
(Photo by AFP)
During the raid, Sheikh Zakzaky’s wife sustained serious wounds too
and more than 300 of his followers and three of his sons were killed.
The cleric, his wife, and a large number of his followers have since
been in custody.
A judicial inquiry after the 2015 brutal raid concluded that the
military had killed 347 IMN members in Zaria. Soldiers buried the bodies
in mass graves.
Several international organizations and human rights groups have denounced “the Zaria massacre."
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