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UPDATE 2-Nigeria bans local Shi'ite group after protests

Published 28/07/2019, 21:57
Updated 28/07/2019, 21:57
UPDATE 2-Nigeria bans local Shi'ite group after protests

(Adds Kaduna state declined to comment)
ABUJA, July 28 (Reuters) - Nigeria's government has banned a
Shi'ite Muslim group whose followers have been holding protests
to demand the release of their detained leader, accusing the
group of inciting violence.
At least 20 members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria have
been killed over the past week during a series of protests that
have shown little sign of abating, raising pressure on the
government. Nigerian police have responded with teargas and gunfire to
the protests and a court on Saturday granted the government
permission to label the group a terrorist
organisation. The group, Nigeria's biggest Shi'ite organisation, can
appeal the ruling. Its members have been marching in the capital
Abuja calling for the release of leader Ibrahim Zakzaky, who has
been in detention since 2015 despite a court order to release
him.
He was arrested after a clash in which the army killed
roughly 350 of his followers at his compound and a nearby mosque
and burial ground in northern Kaduna state. A court in Kaduna is
set to decide on Zakzaky's bail application on Monday.
In a statement, a spokesman for the Shi'ite group said it
had not seen any formal notice of a ban and accused the
government of seeking to block its leader from being released.
Kaduna state government declined to comment.
In a tweet, the Nigerian presidency said it had only
outlawed criminal behaviour and that Shi'ites were free to
observe practices like daily prayers and pilgrimages to Mecca.
"The proscription of Islamic Movement of Nigeria has nothing
to do with banning the larger numbers of peaceful and law
abiding Shi'ites in the country from practicing their religion,"
the presidency said in a tweet.

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