This archive report was first published on 10 July 2019.
July 10, 2019
Violent clashes broke out outside Nigeria's National Assembly between police and Shia protesters, leaving a trail of destruction and death in its wake.
According to eyewitnesses, police opened fire on the protesters, killing two people and injuring several others. The police, however, claimed to have used 'minimum force' and that eight security personnel were injured in the clashes.
The protesters, members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), were demonstrating against the detention of their leader, Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky, who has been held since 2015.
Sheikh Zakzaky's followers have been protesting regularly since his arrest in 2015, following clashes between his followers and the army. The army had accused his followers of attempting to assassinate the chief of army staff, a claim the IMN denied.
A judicial review found that the army killed 347 members of the IMN in those clashes, while one soldier was killed.
Sheikh Zakzaky made his first public court appearance since his arrest in May 2018 in Kaduna High Court in north-west Nigeria. The case continues.
