From: Molly Kilete, Abuja
About 39 members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, otherwise known as Shi’ites, arrested by men of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), police command have been remanded in prison custody.
The suspects, who were arrested on Monday, around the National Mosque, Abuja, for unlawful assembly and disturbance of public peace, were detained at the Wuse Police Station, from where they were charged to the Magistrate court, Wuse.
The Shi’ite group had, for past three days, embarked on a peaceful protest, in Abuja, to demand the release of their leader, Sheik Ibrahim El-Zakizaki, who was arrested in 2016, following a clash with a soldiers on the entourage of the Chief Of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, while on an official visit to the Depot, Nigerian Army, at Zaria.
The protesters mostly men and ranges between the ages of 18-28, were said to have traveled from Kano, Kastina and Kaduna states to the FCT.
The protesters who are demanding the unconditional release of their leader, whom they said may have been killed by the Federal Government.