Defiant members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria have staged a peaceful protest at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja.
The Shiite members protesting at the national assembly
Members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria known as Shi’ites on Thursday stormed the National Assembly demanding the release of their leader, Sheik Ibrahim El-Zakzaky.
The peaceful protest started around 12:00 noon as the members carried placards of their detained leader.
Speaking with newsmen, leader of the protesters, Abdullahi Musa said they were at the Assembly to demand the immediate release of their leader who has been in detention for years.
He said, “We are Nigerians, we are here to demand the release of our leader, Sheik Ibrahim El-Zakzaky who the government says is in protective custody.
“We don’t believe in their protective custody since he has not been found guilty of committing any crime, we demand his unconditional release.
“The National Assembly set up a committee which was given two weeks to investigate the Zaria masacre of our members it is more than one year now we have not heard anything.
“We demand justice for our over 1,000 members killed in Zaria by soldiers, among those killed were three biological children of our leader, they shot his wife, they shot him several times and kept him in detention without access to medical attention. We want him free.”
However, the protesters were confronted by the Commissioner of Police, Mohammad Mustafa who came with water cannon truck and three pick up vans loaded carrying riot policemen who later took up strategic locations in from of the Assembly Complex.
Punch reported that a plain cloth security operative who did not identify himself appealed to the protesters to go and return another day because, “All the legislators are at a sitting and because they are not aware you were coming today, there is none of them who can come and address you.”