Military authorities in Nigeria said on Sunday that Troops of its Headquarters Garrison on official duty escorting ammunition and missiles from Abuja to Army Central Ammunition Depot in Kaduna State were attacked on Saturday by some members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) sect.
It says, the incident occurred at Zuba bridge, in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) at about 3:00pm.
A statement by the Military said the sect who were supposedly in a procession, established an illegal road block denying motorists free passage and that when the troops’ convoy attempted to clear the road block, they met stiff opposition from the sect.
Members of the sect, the military said, used various objects to barricade the road and also pelted the troops with stones and other dangerous items in which they smashed both military and civilian vehicles’ windscreens and windows.
“They also attempted to overrun the escorts to cart away the ammunition and missiles the troops were escorting. This led to the troops opening fire to extricate themselves. Consequently, troops of 102 Guards Battalion in whose Area of Responsibility the incident occurred rushed to the convoy’s rescue.
“Unfortunately, during the encounter, 3 members of the sect were killed while 2 soldiers sustained various degrees of injuries and are being treated at a military medical facility.
“Meanwhile, normalcy has been restored in the general area and members of the public especially those plying the Abuja – Zuba Road are requested to go about with their normal activities with the assurance from the Nigerian Army that no individual or persons would be allowed to disturb public peace and unprovoked attacks against military convoy.
The Islamic Sect Statement
But a statement by President, Media Forum of the Islamic sect, Ibrahim Musa on Saturday, which condemned the action of the security agents said, 4 of its members had been killed by the military in the same clash.
“The army went away with the corpse of three of the victims, but the other victim’s corpse has been identified as Abdul’aziz Maigana, who until his demise was with the members of the Islamic Movement in Suleja.
The statement further added, “In fact it was being rounded up for the day, when soldiers opened fire on the peaceful marchers without any provocation whatsoever.”
“The fact that a similar Arba’een march was conducted in Kano along the Kano-Zaria highway for two days without any incident, is enough a pointer to the peaceful nature of the annual religious rites. Similar Arba’een mourning processions are currently ongoing in Katsina and Kaduna states without any incident,” according to the press statement.
The Islamic Movement then cautioned the security agents to stop harassing its members, “since today is just the beginning of the peaceful mourning march on foot, and it is expected that more people may join the mass peaceful march, which will culminate in the grand Arba’een day, to be marked on Tuesday, 30 October, 2018, the same day it would be commemorated worldwide.”
“If the security agents are trigger happy, then they should save their arms and bullets to other parts of the country engulfed in violence, but not on peaceful marchers carrying no arms with them,” according to the press statement.