GRAPHIC PHOTO: Women Killed During The Clash Between Shiites & Army Yesterday In Abuja
| Oct. 31, 2018
Female members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria has been reportedly killed during a clash with army and the group.
Photos have emerged showing female members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) killed during the clash between the sect and army in Abuja.
Yesterday’s clash began with the convergence of the Shiites at the nation’s capital for the annual Arbaeen symbolic trek, which also served as cover for a protest march against the continued detention of their spiritual leader by the federal authorities.
Violent scenes marred the rituals, officially due to end today as some of the sect members were killed in the confrontation with the Army in the Maraba- Nyanya metropolis of Abuja.
When the crisis first unfolded on Saturday, troops from the Army Headquarters Garrison at Zuba, Gwagwalada Area Council of the FCT, reportedly gunned down six followers of the sect.
The Army, however, claimed responsibility for three deaths.
Since the clash at Zuba, there has been heavy security presence in all the major entry points into the city, in an attempt to curb anarchy and loss of lives.
Soldiers and policemen manned public parks, the federal secretariat and other major government institutions.
The Shiite procession caused a heavy gridlock on the ever busy Kubwa Expressway, while the military and the police made combined the efforts to put the situation under control.
However, about 5p.m., tempers boiled over as the military and the sect clashed in the Kugbo area near Abuja, when the group marched towards the military check point, in defiance of the heavy security presence.
The clashes disrupted the free flow of traffic while many pedestrians scampered for safety