Shi’ites denies responsibility for DCP, journalist’s death

By Andrew Orolua, Abuja

The Islamic Movement in Nigeria on Tuesday denied being responsible for the death of the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of operations in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Usman Musa and the Channels Television reporter, Precious Owolabi, who were killed in Abuja on Monday during the deadly clash between the protesting sect members and the police.

Spokesman for the group, Mallam Ibrahim Musa, said in a statement in Kaduna that the late deputy police commissioner may have been “a victim of friendly fire.”

The IMN also absolved itself of the killing of journalist, Precious Owolabi, noting that he was a victim of the shooting spree carried out by the police on Monday.

Musa, who is the President, Media Forum of the Islamic Movement, maintained that members of the movement do not carry weapons, so they could not have been responsible for the death of the senior police officer and the reporter.

The statement reads in part: “Yesterday, the Nigeria Police Force headquarters issued a press statement in which it ascribed the death of DCP Usman Umar in particular to the Islamic Movement in Nigeria under the leadership of the illegally detained Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky .

“We vehemently condemn such insinuation which we believe was done in bad taste to once again tarnish our hard earned credit as the only non- violent movement in the country.

“A quick analysis of images and video clips showed that the free Zakzaky procession was peacefully progressing prior to the brutal crackdown. It also clearly showed that the protesters were not bearing arms as usual and traffic was moving smoothly without hindrance.

“Furthermore, the images also showed the police, armed to the teeth with intent on stopping the movement of the protesters at all cost. Few other policemen and plain clothes security agents were seen piling used tyres for use to set bonfires. “By the time the police struck, about a dozen members of the Islamic Movement had been killed. The police were seen picking the corpses to an undisclosed location, perhaps for mass burial.”

The group further added that “also shot were the Channels TV reporter, Precious Owolabi and their colleague, a deputy commissioner of police, whom photographs show, was struck from the back of his head with the bullet exit in front, an indication that he was a victim of friendly fire.

“It is a known fact among the intelligence community that you don’t retreat from a mob with your back turned against them. This is one of the tenets of crowd control for law enforcement agencies. As if to hide this fact, the late policeman was hurriedly buried without any form of post-mortem examination, which would have revealed the source of the bullet.

“It seems the security agents strategically killed the journalist to turn the media against us. They also killed the police officer to incite the security community against us and to stigmatise us.”