After warnings of violence, Nigerian police clash with Shiites

At least nine people died in clashes between Shiite Muslims and police during a religious procession Monday in Nigeria’s northern city of Kano. The attack came after the UK-based Islamic Human Rights Commission last week wrote a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari warning of the impending attack and requesting heightened security.

The recurring conflict between security forces and Shiites could result in a larger crisis across the country.

The attack began when police officials tried to disperse thousands of Shiites marching on the highway from Kano state to Kaduna state, where the governor had outlawed the Shiite Islamic Movement of Nigeria. Police commissioner Rabiu Yusuf said police first used tear gas but began to fire after the marchers attacked one official.

“Thousands of Shiite members obstructed motorists on the highway,” Yusuf said. “They attacked one of our personnel, who sustained a fatal injury.”

The Islamic Movement of Nigeria described the attack as preplanned and gave an unconfirmed death toll of 100-plus people. The group disputed police claims that its members were armed with bows and arrows and other dangerous weapons.

“There were pregnant and nursing mothers,” the group’s spokesman, Ibrahim Musa, said in a statement. “How can such people attack heavily armed police?”

The Islamic Human Rights Commission last week penned a letter to Buhari, asking him to ensure the security and protection of the Shiites’ rights in Monday’s procession. Following the attack, the commission said the military crackdown on the group raises concerns of more violent attacks on its members.

Tension escalated between the Shiite group and Nigeria’s government last December when the army killed more than 300 Shiites in an attack on the group’s headquarters in Kaduna state. The government said the group triggered the attack by attempting to kill the country’s army chief. The movement’s leader, Ibraheem Zakzaky, has remained in police custody since December. In October, the Islamic Movement of Nigeria said security forces killed at least 20 of its members in another religious procession. Nigeria’s Muslim population is made up mostly of Sunni Muslims, with an estimated 2 million Shiites across the country.

SBM Intelligence, a Lagos state-based intelligence analysis group, said while the Shiites have a history of obstructing traffic during their processions, the government’s violent response could aggravate the situation: “Most of our sources believe what is still restraining the movement from reacting is the fact that the Nigerian state still holds their leader as more or less a hostage. If a scenario arises where he dies, the situation will probably escalate into open conflagration.”

The group said the government could instead prevent a larger crisis by acting in accordance with the constitution, which would involve reversing the ban on the Islamic Movement of Nigeria and ending the holding of its members.