Nigeria’s National Assembly was on lockdown on Tuesday after violent clashes broke out between police and a group of Shia Muslim protesters. The police had to use tear gas on the protesters from the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), a group that represents Nigeria’s minority Shia Muslims, as they tried to enter the National Assembly complex, reported Reuters.
While the protesters claim the officers shot two people dead, the police said they had used minimum force to disperse the unruly protesters and that eight of their security personnel were injured.
The members of the pro-Iran Shia Muslim sect were protesting against the detention of their leader, Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky, who has been detained since 2015 when fighting between his supporters and the army broke out. Zakzaky and his supporters have had regular run-ins with Nigeria’s secular authorities for years because of his call for an Iranian-style Islamic revolution.
The police said two officers were shot in the legs and six others hit with clubs and stones as members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) tried to forcefully enter into the National Assembly. They added that 40 members of the sect had been arrested.
The Academic Forum of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) has denied reports that its members attacked police officers attached to the entrance of the National Assembly.
On Tuesday, Abdullahi Musa, the spokesman of the forum, said that police officers at the gate fired live ammunition at protesting members of the sect, killing two and one of their colleagues, when they peacefully tried to enter the assembly building.
According to human rights groups, Nigerian security forces have killed some 400 members of the group in response to largely peaceful protests since 2015.
