94 members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, IMN, aka Shi’ites, on Wednesday, were paraded by the Federal Capital Territory Police command in Abuja, over the killing of 2 police personnel and 4 others including a woman police officer injured, during the last Sunday’s riot in the Capital Territory.
The IMN members were paraded at the Anti-Violence Crime Session, formerly known as SARS, of the Command.
Speaking to the press on the group, the Command’s Commissioner of Police,
CP Bennett Igweh, described them as a proscribed terrorist organisation, saying several dangerous weapons were recovered from them including the blood-stained Cutlasses and Knives with which they killed the police officers and inflicted severe injuries on other personnel.
CP Igweh said, “After the attack on the policemen, they killed two policemen and wounded four including a policewoman who is in the hospital.
“We took action because we cannot endure it.
“You can see what we recovered from them. Some of the cutlasses you see here are blood-stained which they used in killing the policemen.
“They shot guns at the policemen, they used bombs, they used cutlasses. If you see how the officers were massacred you would be shocked.
“We recovered some of the exhibits from their headquarters in Suleja, Karamajiji among others. You can see the drugs they take.
“They also use a dummy stained with blood. The group would cover it, and send it to their sponsors overseas and tell them that Nigeria police and the Government have killed one of them.
“They would dress the dummy up to look like a human being, and send it to them, so they can request money.”
The Police boss noted that contrary to the justification of the group for their right to protest, the federal government had proscribed the movement, stripping off their right to peaceful assembly.
The paraded members, over 60 of whom are women, some with babies insisted their religious procession was not intended to attack the officers.
Also speaking to the press, some of the suspected members revealed that they were innocently arrested, for instance, a paraded member of the group told the press that he was a taxi driver who only picked up passengers, unknown to him were Shi’ite members.
Recall that the FCT Police command had vowed to hunt down all members of the group for such an unprovoked attack on its officers.
“I want to assure them that the fact that they have started this war unprovoked, we are going to hunt them.
“We cannot leave them. No matter where they are, I assure you that we will find them and we are going to hunt them because the families of the police officers they killed…” CP Igweh said.
CP Igweh said the IMN as a proscribed group for terrorism had no right to march or to assembly in the first place adding that they will be charged to court and vowed the command was still hunting for the sponsors of the terrorist group and other members.
Meanwhile, the Members of IMN on Sunday, took to the streets of Abuja in solidarity with the assassination of Imam Husain (AS), a revolutionary leader who sacrificed his life fighting against injustice, tyranny and oppression.
The symbolic Arbaeen trek, scheduled for two days, however, turned bloody after police operatives and members of the proscribed group clashed in the Wuse Area of the city.
