Nigeria’s military has opened fire on hundreds of Muslim protesters calling for the release of imprisoned cleric Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky in Abuja on Tuesday.
Iran’s Beirut-based Al-Alam channel quoted activists as saying that at least 20 people were martyred in the military crackdown, adding that many others were injured in the fourth day of protests marking Imam Hussein’s (a.s.) Arbaeen.
The protests were also calling for the release of Sheikh Zakzaky who is still in prison despite a 2016 high court ruling ordering his unconditional freedom.
Several thousand Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) members were marching peacefully in central Abuja but then armed police fired into the crowd to disperse the procession, said AFP reporters at the scene.
Nigeria’s military said three IMN supporters were killed during another protest on the outskirts of Abuja on Monday.
The army claimed troops and police “repelled the attack” and that IMN “fired weapons” and threw stones and Molotov cocktails.
AFP photographs of the aftermath showed several bodies of civilians on the ground near police but it was unclear whether they were dead or injured.
On Saturday, three other IMN members were killed during protests in Abuja.
Source: Agencies
