Nigerian Shiite militants with close ties to the Iranian government allegedly killed at least two police officers in the capital, Abuja, on Sunday.
Three Nigerian police officers were “left unconscious in hospital” and three patrol cars were set on fire.
Abuja Police said The “random attack” was carried out by the banned Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN).
The IMN is a Shiite extremist group. Release It was proposed in the 1980s by a Nigerian cleric named Ibrahim el-Zakzaki, who said he was inspired by the example of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution to create a Shiite caliphate in Africa.
In December 2023, Zakuza Declared allegiance He sent a message to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calling him the global leader of the “Islamic Revolution.” IMN members will pledge allegiance to the Iranian ayatollah before pledging allegiance to their local leaders. Khamenei said the IMN has the full support of the Iranian government.
About half of Nigeria's population is Muslim, but the majority are Sunni Muslim. Highly Organized Capable They instigated large-scale demonstrations despite the Shiites being a minority in Nigeria, and although they are the largest Shiite group in Nigeria, not all Nigerian Shiites belong to this group.
The IMN includes both political and militant factions. Some of its less extremist members hold government and police positions. Others advocate violent revolution, and some of their demonstrations have been highly destructive. The IMN runs over 360 primary and secondary schools across Nigeria.
Zakzaki, his wife and about 200 of his followers were arrested in 2015 during the government's crackdown on the IMN.
Nigerian Army Accused In 2015, the Bharatiya Janata Party (IMN) alleged an assassination plot against army chief Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai after hundreds of people stormed roadblocks to block his motorcade and gunfire erupted. The IMN accused the military of launching a random attack on its headquarters, killing at least six people.
This sparked massive protests, with the government citing this as the reason. Prohibited The IMN was completely banned in July 2019 after a court found the group guilty of “terrorist and illegal acts” during protests that led to the deaths of several police officers.
Some human rights groups have expressed displeasure with the crackdown, arguing that a blanket ban on IMN violates the religious freedom of Nigerians.
Zakzaky and his wife release He was released from police custody by court order in July 2021, an event his supporters hailed as a “triumph of truth and justice over tyranny and impunity.”
The police in Abuja provide The government provided few details about Sunday's attack, describing it as “unprovoked,” blaming it on the IMN and reassuring the public that “the situation is under control.”
“The banned organisation brandished machetes, improvised explosive devices and knives and carried out unprovoked attacks on police checkpoints,” a police spokesman said. said on sunday.
IMN released the statement on Sunday. Condemn Police said they attacked the Arbaeen Symbolic Trek, a Shiite religious ceremony, a traditional Hajj Nigerian Shiites say it is difficult to take part in the pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
Local Media Reported On Sunday, “major chaos” erupted in the Ouse area as Shiites clashed with police during the Arbaeen Symbolic Trek. According to the reports, police had set up checkpoints to disrupt a Shiite religious ceremony, and an angry crowd stormed one of the checkpoints, resulting in a government-announced death toll.
