Shiite: Court orders police to pay N15m to families of three slain members

By Vivian Okejeme, Abuja

Justice Taiwo Taiwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, yesterday, awarded N15 million against the Nigerian police over the killings of three members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN).
The court said each of the applicants must be paid N5million as compensation for killing the Shi’ite members.
In the same vern, the court also ordered the National Hospital, Abuja, to immediately release the three corpses in its morgue.
However, the plaintiffs, Ibrahim Abdulahi, Ahmed Musa, Said Haruna and Yusuf Faska’s request that the Nigerian police should tender an apology in two national newspapers was not granted.
Apart from the Inspector General of Police, the medical directors of National Hospital, Abuja, and Asokoro District Hospital were also mentioned as both 2nd respondent.
In the charge sheet, the Shi’ite members alleged that Suleiman Shehu, Mahdi Musa, Bilyaminu Abubakar Faska and Askari Hassan were killed by police on July 22, 2019.
They insisted that the victims were killed while on a peaceful protest to demand for the freedom of their Islamic leader, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky and his wife, at the Federal Secretariat, Abuja.
The bodies of Suleiman Shehu, Mahdi Musa and Bilyaminu Abubakar Faska were alleged to have been deposited at National Hospital, Abuja, while the body of Askari Hassan was said to have been kept in Asokoro District Hospital.