No fewer than five policemen were feared killed including a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Usman Umar, in Charge of Operations in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Police Command lost their lives when an encounter with protesting members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) also called Shiites turned violent in Abuja on Monday.
Daily Trust also gathered that many Shiites members were killed in the clash with policemen at the three arms zone in Abuja, where DCP Umar was killed by the protesters while trying to maintain law and order.
The Nigerian Police fired tear gas and bullets to disperse members of the IMN as they marched to the Federal Secretariat in Abuja.
The shi’ites procession, which began peacefully from the NICON Junction in Maitama however turned violent as the police blocked the group at the Federal Secretariat and fired tear gas to disperse the protesters.
The protest turned violent as some persons were shot and a vehicle was set on fire on the road opposite the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Police officers summoned fire fighters to the scene, as roads leading to the Villa, National Assembly and Police Force Headquarters were cordoned by the military and other security agencies.
“They used live bullets on our members and many have been killed,” Abdullahi Musa, a spokesman of the group said.
The Police said that it cannot confirm whether live bullets were used on some protesting members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN).
