Several wounded as Shi’ites protest in Kaduna

Several people were wounded yesterday when members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) staged a protest in Kaduna to demand for the release of their leader Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky.

Two police officers sustained injuries as they tried to disperse the crowd and were taken to an undisclosed hospital for treatment.

The IMN marched through the popular Ahmadu Bello way in Kaduna, halting business activities within the area which is Kaduna’s nerve centre of commerce for hours.

Police spokesman, ASP Aliyu Mukhtar in a phone chat with journalists said the Shi’ites came with many women and children and blocked the major road in the state and denied other citizens their right to use the road.

“But this time around, they came fully armed. Two of our men were critically injured and they are now receiving treatment at a hospital here in Kaduna. But I don’t know if there is any causality on their part,” he said.

But spokesman of the IMN, Ibrahim Musa, said they don’t carry arms during peaceful protests and that the people by the route they follow can attest to that.

He said, “It concocted lie by is another the police to absolve the crime of protesters.”

“We were on our peaceful free Zakzaky protest today from Leventis Roundabout to Oriapkpata, where the police fired at us, injuring many with gunshots. They also arrested many, though we’re yet to have any specific figure.” themselves from firing at peaceful