UPDATE ON POLICE CLASH WITH SHIITE MEMBERS, DEATH TOLL

At least 21 people have been reportedly killed in a clash that occurred between members of the Shiite Islamic Movement of Nigeria and the police in Kano on Monday, November 14. The casualty figure is said to have included 20 members of the group and a police sergeant whose identity is yet to be known. However, the police commissioner in the state, Rabiu Yusuf, put the figure at 9 including the police officer.
Eyewitness accounts say trouble broke out around Tamburawa, on the outskirts of Kano city, after the Police tried to stop the Shiite members who had embarked on the annual Arbaeen trek from Kano to Zaria.
The Kano police State Command, security operatives including anti-robbery squad units on their part allege that  they only intervened as the Shiite members began attacking motorists and passersby.
The Police Commissioner in the state, Rabiu Yusuf told journalists that one Police officer was also killed and four others injured in the incident
The incident is coming about a month after a mob confronted the members of the group while they were holding a rally also in Kano, leaving many of them with machete wounds.
The Kaduna State Government has formally declared the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) led by Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky as an unlawful society.
The government stated that the group is never a registered organisation in the state and members of the group have refused to conduct themselves with full adherence to the laws of the state.
The Islamic Movement in Nigeria came to prominence when its members clashed with the Nigerian Army in the northern city of Zaria, Kaduna state, in December 2015.
A judicial inquiry in August concluded that the army killed 348 of the sect’s members, a figure that the army has disputed. The group claimed on 12^th December 2015 in a presentation made by the group to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in Abuja that the military’s attack was premeditated and well planned.

Following that clash the Shiite sect’s leader has been held in custody, without charge, by Nigeria’s security agency since his December arrest following the clashes. His supporters have called for his release.
Members of the group have also held several protests demanding the release of their leader.
This latest clash is a clear indication that the federal government need to take a proactive approach to ensure avoidance of further clashes in future.

JMK