Tension In Abuja As Shiites Members Shot Police Officers At National Assembly

Suspected members of the Shiite group, IMN, have shot some police officers on duty at the National Assembly.

The incident created pandemonium within and around the assembly complex.

A PREMIUM TIMES reporter watched as one of the police officers was rushed to the National Assembly clinic around 1.55p.m.

Some witnesses said two officers were shot while others said three officers were shot.

Several witnesses, who recounted the face-off, said the incident occurred when the protesters tried to force their way into the assembly complex.

“They shot three policemen. One of them even appears dead already,” a witness told PREMIUM TIMES.

As at the time of filing this report, police officers have locked the entrance of the National Assembly as sounds of gunshots rented the air.

The protesters are demanding the release of their leader, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky.

Mr El-Zakzaky has been arrested since December 2015 after soldiers clamped down on his supporters and killed at least 347 of them. The soldiers accused the Shiite group of blocking a major road that was to be used by army chief Tukur Buratai.

That massacre of the Shiites has been condemend by local and international rights groups.

Since the December 2015 incident, Mr El-Zakzaky and his wife Zeenah have been in detention; first without trial for about a year. They were eventually charged with murder for the death of a soldier during the December 2015 incident.

Dozens of other Shiite members have been killed in different protests mainly in Abuja and Kaduna since the December 2015 incident.

The security agencies often accuse the Shiites of instigating the violence by using various weapons including petrol bombs; allegations the Shiites have denied.

More details later…

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