Shi’ite group says 42 members killed by security forces

KADUNA/MARARABA: The movement of a jailed Nigerian Shi’ite cleric whose followers have repeatedly been targeted by the authorities said yesterday security forces had killed 42 of its members during two days of violent crackdowns on protests in the capital Abuja.

Security forces opened fire with live ammunition on members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) who had marched in their hundreds to demand the release of their leader Ibrahim Zakzaky, jailed since 2015 when the army killed hundreds of his followers at his compound and a nearby mosque and burial ground.

The IMN raised its death toll in a report yesterday from the two previous days’ violence to 42 from an earlier figure of 25. The toll included seven people who died of injuries received on Wednesday and 35 killed the previous day, Ibrahim Musa, an IMN spokesman, said.

Yesterday 20 bodies lay shrouded in white, awaiting burial in the town of Mararaba, 8km from Abuja, a Reuters journalist said.

‘‘I, as a Shi’ite today, I’m carrying my death certificate,’’ said Muhammed Ibrahim Gamawa, an IMN youth leader, at the burial site.

‘‘Under Buhari’s Government any Shia in Nigeria is under threat and can be gunned down any day, any time, any minute,’’ he said, referring to Nigerian President Mohammadu Buhari.

‘‘We are not safe, we are an endangered species in Nigeria.’’ — Reuters