Confusion as Shiites engage police in bloody protest in Abuja

…PDP seeks immediate inquest on incident
…Police arrest 115 Shiite members
Confusion reigned supreme on Monday as members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) otherwise known as the Shiites, engaged the police in a bloody protest.

The development led to uncertainties among motorists and passersby as police cordoned off the Unity Fountain, Abuja, where members of the religious group planned to hold their protests.

The police had last week informed groups using the Unity Fountain for sit-out to keep off. The Our Mumu Don do group led by Mr. Charley Oputa and the Bring Back Our Girls group were last week informed of the impending danger.

But members the Shiites had it rough and bloody in Abuja on Monday when they insisted that their daily sit-out protest at the Unity Fountain must continue after the FCT Police Command had cordoned off the whole area with crime scene tape and banning all manner of protest at the venue.

The Daily Times further gathered that the religious group’s insistence on using the Unity Fountain and go ahead with its peaceful protest against the orders of the police sparked off violence as some people were injured while vehicles of innocent persons were smashed.

The daily sit-out protest of the Shiites had lasted for over two months at the Unity Fountain, and just a week ago, a new dimension was introduced into the protest. Members of the group marched in large numbers and obstructed traffic flows to different restricted places in Abuja to make a case for the release of their leader, Shiek Ibrahim El-Zakzaky.

The Police had mobilized officers, Armoured Personnel Carrier and security dogs to enforce the ban in the Unity Fountain while applying force to disperse the rioting protesters by firing tear gas and using hot water tanks against at them.

An eyewitness (a taxi driver), who ran into the crossfire but escaped death by whiskers, said that the protesters were not dissuaded by the tear gas and the hot water that the police officers were using against them.

He added that the protesters faced the police, hauling stones and sticks at them, and also smashing vehicles that were around the area.

He said, “I didn’t know what was happening, but before I could realise it, I was already in the midst of the prosters with the passengers I was carrying in my car. I hurriedly reversed my car and escaped from hurt.

“The Shiites faced the police with stones and sticks. In fact, it was when the soldiers came that they dissappered, and some of them took to their heels with injuries and blood on their bodies”.

When The Daily Times visited the scene at about 12.30pm, the protesters had been dispersed while there was heavy presence of soldiers, Civil Defence Corps, the Police and other plain clothe security agents.

The security agents were deployed right from the Federal High Court junction to the Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC) office in Maitaima, Abuja.

There were various signs of violence at the vicinity with canisters of tear gas, stones and sticks littering the area including smashed car glasses along the roads in the affected areas.

The Daily Times also observed the shattered glasses of the NCC building. But it was gathered that there there was no casualty after the incident.

Meabwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has demanded an immediate inquest into the violent clash between security forces and members of the Shiites in Abuja on Monday.

According to the PDP, it is worried over the handling of security in the nation’s capital and the near breakdown of law and order, which resulted in stampede and disruption of public and private businesses in the city centre.

The PDP noted that the development is linked with protests over the continued refusal of the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government to release the leader of the group, Sheik Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, despite being granted bail by courts of competent jurisdiction.

In a press statement in Abuja on Monday, by its spokesperson, Kola Ologbondiyan, the PDP further noted the continued show of force and infringements on the rights of citizens by the APC administration.

The PDP expressed deep concern over continued erosion of democratic tenets by the APC administration, resulting in avoidable crisis in various parts of the country.

While it sued for calm and demanded for an immediate inquest into the cause of the clash, the party urged security high commands to ensure that this matter is nipped in the bud with the highest level of professionalism.