Shiites, Police disagree over killing, arrest of members

From :Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

Members of Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky-led Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), otherwise known as Shiites, and the Kaduna state police command have disagreed over casualty figure during last week’s clash.
While Shiite insisted that Police killed seven of their members on Quds Day annual procession penultimate Friday in Kaduna and Zaria, police said it did not fire a single shot.
Shiites said five of their members were killed in Kaduna and two in Zaria, adding that 22 of their members were arrested and 40 others injured by the Police on the fateful day.
It would be recalled that the Command’s Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP Mansir Hasan, denied the allegations of killing any of the IMN members but instead said three of their officers sustained injuries following an attack from the Shiite members, adding that the injured officers have been taken to the hospital for treatment.
The PPRO said, “We got the 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 most of the strategic places to stop them from blocking the road, especially Ahmadu Bello Way Kaduna.
“On sighting our men deployed there, the IMN members started throwing stones, firing catapults, and locally made guns against our men which led to three of our men sustaining injuries and now receiving treatment at a police clinic.
“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 teargas to disperse them”.
However, addressing a press conference on Tuesday, the Chairman, of Resource Forum Islamic Movement, Prof. Abdullahi Danladi said police should use their force to rid the country of Kidnappers instead of using such force on innocent citizens.
Prof. Danladi said International Quds Day is an annual day of solidarity with Palestinians and the oppressed people of the world, adding that it is normally held on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan as instructed by late Ayyatullah Ruhullah Khomeini (QS).
“The well-organized peaceful demonstration staged by unarmed men, women, children and even the physically challenged, to commiserate with the Palestinians and condemn the genocide being perpetrated by Israel in Gaza, the police with full combat-ready force came in tens of vehicles carrying heavy arms and clamped down on the peaceful demonstrators.
“As a result of the crime committed by supposed to be law enforcement agents, 7 innocent persons were killed (5 in Kaduna and 2 in Zaria), including minors, and over 40 persons injured, with some in very critical conditions.
“Those killed include Mahamud Umar, Ibrahim Rabiu, Haidar Ishaq, Mustapha Buruku, Ahmad Mustafa, Mustapha Adam, and Ammar Abdullahi Jahadee.”