Members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), also known as the Shiites, have lately
staged protests in Abuja, Lagos and a few other cities around the country to draw attention to the
continued detention of their leader, Sheikh Ibrahim El Zakzaky. Penultimate Thursday, the group
staged one of such protests at the Eagle Square, within the vicinity of the Federal Secretariat,
Abuja. OKORIE UGURU, who witnessed the build-up and final form of the protest which ended up
in a violent form at the National Assembly, reports.
For some time now, residents of Abuja have had to grapple with the disruption of the peace of the nation’s federal capital as a result of the activities of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria otherwise called the Shiites. The group has been protesting the continued detention of their leader, Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky since he was arrested by security agents in Zaria, Kaduna State about four years ago.
The group has vowed to continue the protests until their leader is released as pronounced by the courts. Hence, for many Abuja residents, avoiding the parts of the city that are prone to the protests has become the beginning of wisdom. This is because what would generally start as peaceful protests by the Shiites could quickly turn into chaos the law enforcement agents make efforts to stop them. Penultimate Thursday was one of such days. In the morning of that fateful day, the Eagles Square, sandwiched between the buildings of the Federal Secretariat complex, was as peaceful as a dove as civil servants made their ways into their offices.
The taxis, painted and unpainted, were busy. For those who had business around the area and had to leave home early, the food court behind the Eagle Square parade ground within the complex came in handy. As early as it seemed, most of the food vendors had started operating, serving hungry customers.
Then suddenly at about 9am, a seemingly innocuous crowd began to gather at the left entrance of Eagle Square’s food court, facing the route to the National Assembly complex. Initially, there was nothing that seemed out of place with the gathering.
However, the gathering, which started with less than five individuals, increased to about 100 people within the space of less than 10 minutes. Comprising both men and women, the women among them were mostly in their teens and early twenties. Immediately the number became appreciable, the male among them began to tie around their foreheads a bandana with Arabic inscription while the women wore bukkah, a kind of dress that left only their faces open.
Events began to move on the fast lane. Obviously, they had caught the security personnel off guard as there was no sign of any of them in sight. On the other hand, the number of the Shiite protester rose in geometric proportions. There was a certain level of pre-planning and well-rehearsed organization to everything they were doing. Quickly, their members in charge of traffic brought out their reflexive vexes and wore them.
They clutched their walkie-talkie and seemed to be communicating with others who, although were within the area, were not visible. The group organised their procession into three sections with the men at the forefront and the rare. While the women were sandwiched in the middle. Quickly, a banner was unfolded bearing the inscriptions: “Buhari Poisoned Sheikh Zakzaky” and “Free Zakzaky”. Behind the people holding the banner was another set of people clutching another banner on which was written: “Our Hero, Our Martyr”. The name written under picture of the young man on the banner was Saheed Mahmud Zakzaky. He was alleged to have been extra-judicially killed by the military during the 2015 crisis.
It was obvious the Shiite group was trying to do all the things they wanted as quickly as possible before the security personnel would arrive. Within minutes, they were set for the protest march. They started chanting in Arabic. Their chants were accompanied with the stamping of their feet on the ground; a development that created a kind of panic within the Federal Secretariat complex. The people who had been enjoying their meals at the food court quickly scampered for safety.
In no time, the court became empty. The security men manning the different gates of the Federal Secretariat started closing their gates. The police and other security personnel also arrived and cordoned off the front gate where the Shiites protesters faced.
The security agents looked stern as they clutched their sophisticated guns. Among them were those in all-black, those in green and those with normal police uniform. The stage appeared set for pandemonium and the tension was palpable. Just then, the leader of the group signaled to them to start marching.
In spite of the presence of gun trotting security agents, they started marching as if the security personnel did not exist. From the direction they were headed, it was obvious that the National Assembly was their target just like they had done a few days earlier. This time around, the security personnel were not prepared to leave anything to chance. No side appeared ready to yield ground.
The women raised the tension a notch further when they brought out different cardboards with the inscription “Free Zakzaky”; a phrase they also chanted gleefully. The security personnel cordoned off the road and signaled to the protesting Shiites to go back. The Shiites didn’t show any sign that they understood what the security personnel were saying.
They marched on as if there was nothing happening around them. It was obvious that the situation would degenerate into a clash as neither the police nor the protesters was ready to blink first. The Shiites were bent on going ahead with their protest to draw attention to the continuous detention of their leader while the security personnel seemed determined that the ugly incident at the National Assembly a few days earlier would not be allowed to happen again.
The Shiites chanted and marched forward until the first sound of teargas and the resultant smoke seized the atmosphere. Immediately security personnel fired the teargas to disperse the protesters, other law enforcement agents officers moved in and started breaking the protest. Some of the Shiites members, men and women, were picked up, harried into waiting vans and driven away. While the momentary unrest was on, a huge traffic built around the Central Area. Panicky motorists resorted to different kinds of manoeuvring to escape from the area.
One of the drivers caught in the traffic was Chidiebere Okeiyi, who said: “My brother, this thing is becoming too much. I have had an experience during the Shiites protest here in Abuja and I don’t want to have a second one. I had to use reverse to drive back through Sheraton Abuja and Silverbird Galleria just to escape the unrest. I use this unpainted vehicle for taxi since I lost my job as a marine worker.
I wouldn’t want anything to happen to it because we would go hungry. “The last time I witnessed such incident, a lot of vehicles were damaged.
That was why I panicked and looked for a way out of the traffic that was building.” After the face-off with the security personnel, the protest was quashed. There was no fatality from what one observed, apart from people that had injuries from the resultant disorder.
It will be recalled that since December 2015, Sheikh El-Zakzaky has been in detention after a clash between his group and military personnel. During the brutal crackdown after the clash, three of his sons lost their lives, his wife sustained serious wounds and members of the group lost their lives. The Islamic group and his family had warned about the deteriorating health of the 66-year-old cleric. However, the Federal Government has insisted that his detention was for his own safety despite court pronouncement that he should be released.
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