FREEPRESS – Two members of the Shiite movement were reportedly killed on Saturday as the group tried to rebuild its school destroyed near Zango road, Tudun Wada in Kaduna, witnesses said.
Ten other members were injured in the attack.
This has caused panic as many residents of Tudun Wada, Ungwan Muazu, Kinkinau remained indoors. Those caught up along Nnamdi Azikwe way and other streets scampered for safety.
Bala Zango, a shop owner along Zango Road, said the issue was getting out of hand as hundreds of youth were advancing towards Ungwan Muazu to hunt for Shiite members.
Ungwan Muazu is among the areas in Kaduna, where many Shiites reside.
“We heard that, two persons suspected to be members of the Shiite were dead,” he said. “It’s very scary because at the end of the day, it’s the innocent people that will fall victim.”
Some witnesses said Awwal Maikyau, the Special Adviser on Youth to Governor Nasir El-Rufai, was attacked as he attempted to mediate.
“Awwal Yaro Maikyau, the Governors SA on youths whose house is close to the scene of the incident, was also attacked while trying to mediate between them and the irate youths,” a family member confirmed.
The Shiites said they were attacked as they tried to rebuild the sect’s school that was attacked on Tuesday.
“Some thugs came to attack us with weapons, insisting that we must be evicted completely from the place,” one member told our correspondent.
“Police arrived the scene and went with some of our members and some community members for settlement.
“As they left, 10 of our Shiite members were machete. It was rumoured that one person died, but we are still making inquiries to confirm.
“This is the danger behind playing politics with religion,” the member said.
The police spokesperson, Aliyu Usman, told our correspondent police monitoring the situation.
“Please be patient, we are monitoring the situation, we shall get back to you later,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Shia Islamic movement of Nigeria on Friday criticised Gov. El Rufai for condemning attacks on its members, saying the governor was behind the attacks and his stance was an afterthought.
In a statement signed by IMN’s president, Ibrahim Musa, the members said the Kaduna State government was culpable of inciting the attacks against them.
“Clearly, this is nothing but an afterthought. What happened in the wake of our peaceful Ashura mourning procession was a carefully planned plot, meticulously executed with all machinery of government. The government had all along tried to give their brutal clampdown on Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) members a semblance of an altercation between IMN and the masses.
“Kaduna state governor, Nasiru ElRufai alluded to this right from the outset of the attacks in December, 2015 in his infamous state-wide broadcast. His utterances and body language since then left no one in doubt his disdain for IMN members. Using all the tools of governance at his disposal, in private and openly, often in total disregard to reason, sanity or law, he exhibited extreme hate for IMN,” they said.
The IMN said the decision of the Kaduna State government to outlaw its group was responsible for the attacks against them.
“As a fore-runner to the latest brutality, he issued an executive order banning us from exercising our rights to practice our religion with a threat to jail anyone who does up to seven years in his jail. For daring to mention that his order is in clear violation of all known sane laws of the land and beyond, he ordered the arrest and prosecution of Ibrahim Musa, the President of the Media Forum. How then can El-Rufai now shed crocodile tears having incited violence on a people through his hate posture and actions against such people? They read the body language of the government in their favour and acted based on that, and with full support of all the instruments of governance over which he presides.
“We have it on record how certain individuals and hate preachers took to the media and the podium respectively calling on the masses to join the government of El-Rufai in what they termed an “all-out war on Shia.” The government and El-Rufai has neither refuted that nor call the perpetrators to order or better still arrest and punish the culprits, since they are well known and the actions were done in broad daylight. Simply put, El-Rufai is very much culpable,” the group said.
It further said it will not retaliate the attacks but that it would seek redress in the courts of law.
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