The police has denied killing members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), accusing the group of attacking its men with stones, iron bolts and catapults during their procession in Kaduna on Tuesday. The police and the sect led by Ibraheem El-Zakzaky clashed in Kaduna on Tuesday.
The IMN had alleged that the police killed fifteen of their members. But in a statement, spokesman of the Kaduna state police command, Yakubu Sabo, said a team of policemen dispatched to disperse the “unlawful assembly” and ease traffic congestion were attacked by the group.
He said despite the warning issued to the group against its procession, IMN members came out en masse along Nnamdi Azikiwe expressway Kaduna and at Kasuwan Mata area of Zaria city, blocking highways, causing traffic jam and molesting commuters.
Sabo said the IMN members, who were chanting anti-government slogans, demanded the release of their leader and his wife who have been in detention since December 2015.
Meanwhile, the Police Force has clarified that Muslims in the country are free to observe the Ashura mourning procession, adding that its ban only applied to the proscribed IMN.
Police Spokesman, Frank Mba said those marking the religious ceremony should, however, do so within the confines of the law.
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