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Police and Shiite Protesters Clash Again in Abuja [Photos]

The Nigerian Police again, clashed with some Shiite protesters who were protesting the prolonged detention of their leader, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky.

The members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) who threw stones and other objects, causing damage to cars and buildings in Maitama area of Abuja after they had stormed the National Communications Commission (NCC) to stage a peaceful protest, were teargassed by police officers to disperse them.

NAN gathered that the sect members engaged the police with stones and other missiles and smashed glasses of some vehicles parked in and around the NHRC building.

They also pelted the police water cannon vehicle deployed to disperse them with stones, wounding some of the policemen, while some of the sect members ran into one of the uncompleted buildings beside the commission.

The police later called for re-enforcement, leading to deployment of more personnel with sniffer dogs to comb the building. Here are photos below;

The Islamic movement has been agitating for the release of their leader, Sheik Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, who has been in detention since December 2016.

Today’s protest is coming less than a week after the Shiite protesters and police clashed in Wuse area of Abuja.

Police officers had dispersed the protesters with water cannons and tear gas after they assembled at Wuse and were processing towards the Berger junction area.

Police authorities later explained that 115 members of the El-Zakzaky Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) were arrested after the protest for attacking innocent citizens, disrupting business activities, obstructing traffic movement and smashing the windscreen of innocent citizens’ vehicles in the affected areas.

Although the senior officer declined to comment further, however when contacted, the Spokesman of the FCT Police Command, DSP Anjuguri Manzah, said that he had not gotten details of the incident and, therefore, declined further comments on the arrest of the Shitte members.