El-Zakzaky ‎followers protest in Abuja, clash with police at NASS

Members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), protesting against the continued detention of their leader, clashed with the police at the National Assembly Complex on Monday.

According to eyes witnesses account, the protesters took off at the Federal Secretariat and made straight to the front Gate of the National Assembly in a peaceful possession demanding the release of Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, their leader, who had been in custody of security agencies since 2015.

It was, however, gathered that the security personnel manning the main gate prevented them from gaining access to the premises.

The security operatives fired tear gas into the air while dispersing them; some of them were subsequently arrested.

Normalcy, however, returned when one of the leaders of the group advised members to go home having learned that the NASS was on recess and that no one could attend to them officially.

The protesters in their hundreds armed with the photograph of ‎their detained leader were chanting “release Zakzkay.”

The Abuja incident happened one day after a member of the IMN was killed in Kaduna.

A very Senior Police Officer and a top official ‎of the Department of State Services (DSS), at the National Assembly, who spoke on the development denied the claims of alleged gun shorts at the scene, saying,” it is all rumours, this is a restricted area where such a thing is not allowed.”