Violent Shiites Protest: Police DC Killed, Properties Destroyed

Media reports coming out of Abuja, the political capital of Nigeria has it that Mr Usman Umar, a Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of operations in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), was killed on Monday. Umar was reportedly killed during a protest by members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), also known as the Shiites, in Abuja on Monday. The sect has in the recent past increased the spate of their violent protests in the hitherto peaceful city.

Sources has it that he was said to have been shot while trying to pacify the protesting Shi’ite members. He later died at an undisclosed hospital. Umar, until his appointment as the DCP, operations, was the principal staff officer (PSO), to Ibrahim Idris, the immediate past Inspector-General of Police (IGP).

Shiites members again took to the streets of Abuja to demand the release of Ibrahim Zakzaky, their leader, who has been in detention since 2015. The protest, which began from NITEL junction in Wuse zone 2, was disrupted by armed policemen who cordoned off the road leading to the national assembly and three arms zone. Bullets were fired at the protesters as they advanced towards the Eagle Square. The situation sparked tension as workers fled while motorists abandoned their vehicles on the road for safety.

The violence also led to the burning of two emergency ambulances belonging to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). The agency in a statement signed by Sani Datti, its Head, Media and public relations, said the ambulances were burnt down at the agency’s emergency response and ambulance bays (ERABs) in Abuja near the federal secretariat

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