Two martyred as Nigerian police raid Arbaeen commemoration

 A leader of the Shia Muslim identified as Sunusi Abdulkadir and an unidentified female member of the sect, have been allegedly martyred by mobile policemen in Kano state.

Trouble started after the police intercepted the Arbaeen annual trek of the group in the town, TheCable reported.

A witness told us that the IMN members were at the popular Lado overhead bridge along Zaria road in Kano metropolis.

The policemen allegedly stopped them by firing teargas and live bullets.

Many people sustained injuries in the incident.

Musa Majia, spokesman of the Kano state police command, could not be reached for comments as he neither answered his calls nor responded to a text message sent.

Kano is among the states that have outlawed the peaceful activities of the group.

The prominent cleric Ayatollah Ibrahim Zakzaky and his wife were taken into custody on December 14, 2115, after deadly clashes between the supporters of the IMN movement and Nigerian troops.

Nearly 350 members of the Shia movement were killed in the clashes. The sheikh was brutally injured and his house was reportedly destroyed by the army in the incident.

The judge said he had given 45 days for authorities to provide new accommodation for the Zakzaky family. The accommodation is to be in the town of Zaria, Kaduna state, where the family were detained, or in other parts of the state or alternatively any other part of northern Nigeria.

Kolawole said the State Security Service would pay each of Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife $78,984 in compensation for the violation of their rights by being held in unlawful custody for nearly a year.

Nearly 100 IMN supporters were killed when Nigerian forces fired live rounds and tear gas at mourners during a peaceful march ahead of the Arbaeen mourning rituals, which mark 40 days after the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein (AS), the third Shia Imam. Authorities also destroyed a number of buildings belonging to the IMN.

The Nigerian government has stepped up its crackdown on the IMN since the December 2015 deadly incident.

The Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) said there was a new plot to assassinate its leader, Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky, who was in an illegal detention.