Nigerian police fire teargas on Shi'ite demonstrators

Shi’ite Muslim protesters in Abuja on Monday were seen running away after police fired tear gas during a demonstration.

Demonstrators were calling for the release of their leader, Ibrahim Zakzaky, imprisoned since 2015 without being charged.

“His is dying in their detention, but they refused him medical attention that is why we say let us come out and protest against this injustice, on coming out, you see how the police attack us. Since saturday, there were various protests in so many cities in the country, even yesterday, the police opened fire life ammunition in Kaduna, they killed two of our brothers” said an unidentified protester.

Africa’s most populous nation of 180 million combines a predominantly Christian south and mainly Sunni Muslim north.
According to a 2009 report by the U.S.-based Pew Research Center, Shi’ites are estimated at less than 4 million, , although there are no official figures.

The state of emergency will be prolonged again. As you know, the procedure is that the National Security Council adopts a recommendation that is then discussed by the cabinet. This is likely to be on the agenda for the next meeting of the National Security Council.

In the past days, eighty-three people have been killed in communal violence in Nigeria according to government and police officials said, much of it involving clashes between Muslim cattle herders and Christian farmers.

The killings endanger efforts by President Muhammadu Buhari to bring security and stability to Nigeria – a central pledge of his campaign for election in 2015.