About four members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, otherwise known as Shi’ites, were reportedly shot yesterday during a face- off between some soldiers in Zaria, Kaduna state, and members of the sect.
Two of those shot, according to a source who saw it all, reportedly died.
The incident is coming about two and half years after the two sides clashed along Zaria Road, with scores of the sect members killed.
At different times, the sect had protested both in Abuja and Kaduna, the continued detention of its leader, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky and his wife, Zina, who were in custody for about two years without trial, until recently.
For instance, in one of such protests in Kaduna, the members allegedly killed police personnel and injured several others in a clash, during which the police vehicles were set ablaze.
There was also a similar clash in Abuja between the police and the Shi’ite members, with the two sides suffering several casualties.
The fresh crisis
But in a fresh clash with the military yesterday, an eyewitness account said the fracas between the two parties ensued when members of the sect went to Darur Rahama, a graveyard located at Dembo village in Zaria local government area of the state.
Before now, the graveyard used to be in the custody of the sect.
But with the proscription of the group by the Kaduna state government, the military took over the place.
Speaking to Blueprint, a source who was at the scene of the incident, said the soldiers attempted dispersing the group from assembling its members, but they (soldiers) were resisted, thus resulting in chaos.
As at the time of filing this report, all efforts to reach the spokesman of the state Police Command, DSP Mukhtar Aliyu for comment on the incident proved abortive.
Several calls made to his telephone line were neither picked nor returned.
But upon our reporter’s persistence, he simply sent a terse response “call army” to a text message from Blueprint.
Bandits kill 3 cops
In a related development, the Birnin Gwari Vanguards for Security and Good Governance yesterday commiserated with the Nigeria Police Force, family and friends of the three policemen killed by armed bandits in an ambush on Tuesday in Birnin Gwari area of Kaduna state.
The bandits, along Birnin Gwari-Kaduna highway, were said to have ambushed a police vehicle that was on routine patrol, killing three police personnel and setting their vehicle ablaze.
According to an eyewitness account, the sad event happened near Labi village area in Birnin Gwari local government area of the state.
In a condolence message, Chairman of the group, Malam Ibrahim Abubakar Nagwadu, said “on behalf of the entire people of Birnin Gwari and our association, I wish to extend our heartfelt condolences to their families and the Nigerian Police Force for this irreparable loss.
“We equally like to commend all security agencies for the difficult task of uprooting acts of terrorism, armed banditry and kidnapping along Birnin Gwari-Kaduna highway, as well as Birnin Gwari-Funtua road and indeed the Kamuku forest.”
The community leader, however. appealed to residents of Birnin Gwari area to volunteer relevant information to security agencies “to unmask all evil elements across our territory and also give accurate information on all hideouts of the criminals.”
