Apprehension, gridlock as security agents clash with Shiites members in Abuja

Tension and fear gripped residents of Abuja and its environs on Monday as police and other security agents battled thousands of members of Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) who embarked on protest in the Federal Capital Territory.

The development led to heavy gridlock along the areas while commuters had to resort to trekking.

The IMN procession in Nyanya/ Mararaba areas degenerated into violence and sporadic gun shootings resulting in the alleged death of a number of persons as the police tried to dispatch Shiite members who had planned to storm the city centre.

Another devastating violence soon broke out in Karu, a densely populated suburb of the Nigerian capital Abuja.

Eye witnesses told The Daily Times that some people were allegedly killed and scores wounded after Shiite protesters attempted to break a barricade of Nigerian soldiers around the flyover in Karu.

While some of the deceased reportedly died after being rammed by cars driven by panic drivers, most of them were allegedly hit by Nigerian soldiers’ bullets, the witnesses said.

The witness said soldiers were responsible for most of the deaths, attributing only about four to persons rammed by speeding vehicles or an elderly woman who fell and hit her head against the median while scampering for safety.

“Yes, the soldiers were shooting at the people, they said they wanted to break their barricade near the overhead bridge in Karu,” another witness said.

The witnesses were not certain about the causality figure and all calls put to the police were not responded to.

Earlier, on Monday, the FCT Police Command had reassured the public that it had deployed enough personnel to curtail the protest that bagun in Zuba on Saturday.

FCT Police Command had in a statement signed by its Public Relations Officer, DSP Anjuguri Manzah, warned against the protest.

It stated that “following trending social media messages that the El-Zakzaky Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) is planning a major procession into the Federal Capital Territory,

the FCT Police Command wishes to reassure members of the public that it has deployed both uniform and plain-cloth police operatives at strategic points to forestall any breakdown of law and order in the Federal Capital Territory.

“Adequate security measures have also been put in place to protect lives and property and to ensure free flow of vehicular movement in and out of FCT. Members of the public are therefore enjoined to feel free to go about their lawful activities.

The Command also seizes this medium to address members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria on the need to be law abiding, and ensure they write and secure the appropriate clearance before embarking on any form of procession in FCT”.

The commotion caused by the clash between security forces and Shiites members on Monday disrupted normal traffic flows along the ever busy Abuja- Keffi highways for hours, thus leaving commuters mostly workers at the close of work stranded in Abuja.

At the weekend, troops of the Nigerian Army intervened to restore normalcy after the Shiite group blocked the Zuba Road.

Troops of Army Headquarters Garrison on official duty escorting ammunitions and missiles from Abuja to Army Central Ammunition Depot in Kaduna State were reportedly attacked by some members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) sect at Zuba Bridge of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) at about 3pm on Saturday, October 27, 2018.

The sect members who were supposedly in a procession, established an illegal road block denying motorists free passage.

When the troops’ convoy attempted to clear the road block, they met stiff opposition from the sect. Members of the sect used various objects to barricade the road and also pelted the troops with stones and other dangerous items. They smashed both military and civilian vehicles’ windscreens and windows.

They also attempted to overrun the escorts to cart away the ammunition and missiles the troops were escorting. The development led to the troops opening fire to extricate themselves. Consequently, troops of 102 Guards Battalion in whose Area of Responsibility the incident occurred rushed to the convoy’s rescue.

Unfortunately, during the encounter, 3 members of the sect were killed while 2 soldiers sustained various degrees of injuries and are being treated at a military medical facility.

Though normalcy has been restored in the general area, the sect members regrouped on Monday attempting to cause trouble.