22nd July, 2019
Islamic Movement of Nigeria said today that 11 people who joined in the Free El-Zakzaky protest in Abuja on Monday were killed by the Nigerian police.
Ibrahim Musa, president of the Media Forum of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria said an additional 30 people were injured.
There has been no official figure of casualties by the police.
The IMN spokesman said the protest by its members was peaceful.
He said trouble started when the police prevented the group who are on a peaceful protest from moving to the Federal Secretariat.
His statement was silent on the burning of the outpost of the National Emergency and Management Agency and two of its Rapid Response vehicles.
Here is the full statement:
Abuja today yet again witnessed one of the worst cases of blatant trampling of the rights of citizens ever seen in the Federal Capital, when joint security forces consisting of both uniformed men and officers of the Nigerian Police Force and others in mufti, unleashed their fury on a Free Zakzaky protest by members of the Islamic Movement.
The procession, attended by several thousands of persons, including very young children, the aged, women and the physically challenged, met with an extreme rage indicative of deep-seated animosity the Nigerian authorities bear for the Movement.
What actually happened was that the protesters started the procession from NITEL junction and on getting to Federal Secretariat, the police cordoned off the road and started firing at them.
A lot of people have been shot but for now, we can only confirm 11 deaths, but several are injured. The figure, for now, stood at 30. Though we are aware of the fact that the security agents have been going around taking off those they killed from the streets.
Even some seriously injured persons that were taken to Abuja University Teaching Hospital Gwagwalada; the police went there and took away about 11 people they shot during the protest.
We strongly dispute the claim by the police that the protesters shot at them because throughout our processions we have not been carrying any arms right from 2015 to date. It was also the police who shot at the Reporter of Channels TV, another indication that many innocent people were shot at by the police, including some of their own.
In this era so social media the brutality displayed by the police today has been captured with some pictures showing the police setting up the bonfires and there are videos that captured the police carting away their victims”.
Members of IMN took to the streets of Abuja on Monday to demand the release of Ibrahim Zakzaky, their leader, who has been in detention since 2015.
The protest, which began from NITEL junction at Wuse zone 2, was disrupted by armed policemen who cordoned off the road leading to the national assembly and three arms zone.
Bullets were fired at the protesters as they advanced towards the Eagle Square. The situation sparked tension as workers fled while motorists abandoned their vehicles on the road.