Nigerian military says Shiite protesters fired at soldiers

ABUJA, NIGERIA -  The Nigerian military on Sunday blamed "violent" demonstrators who opened fire at security forces for clashes at a protest in the capital that left 12 dead.

The protest, held Friday in Abuja by the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), saw supporters of the banned Shiite movement gather for Quds Day, which is marked around the world with pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

Eleven protesters and one soldier were killed, according to a government intelligence report seen by AFP.

Amnesty International's Nigeria branch said soldiers fired live rounds at protesters as a form of crowd control -- events the military disputed.

"The protesters threw decorum to the wind, became outrageously violent by firing at and attempting to overrun security operatives deployed at anticipated flash points," army spokesman Major General Onyema Nwachukwu told AFP.

"Sadly, in the exchange of fire that ensued as the troops defended themselves, one soldier was killed in action while two were wounded."

The IMN has been outlawed by Nigerian authorities for advocating an Islamic revolution in the west African nation. However at the time of its banning, in 2019, researchers characterised it as more interested in protest than political violence.

In August, an attack by IMN members killed two law enforcement officers, police said.

 DISPUTED EVENTS 

After Friday's protest, the IMN said on social media that the Nigerian Army "attacked the procession and several people sustained gunshot injuries," without giving a toll.

The intelligence report said 19 people were injured and 295 others arrested. A soldier was also injured.

Sharing a video of an arrested protester being hit by security forces, Amnesty International Nigeria described the protesters as "perfectly within their rights to hold a religious procession", adding: "There was no evidence they posed an imminent threat to life."

It also accused the military of a history of "extrajudicial executions" against the group.

The intelligence report described the waving of flags at the protest as undermining Nigeria's sovereignty.

In July 2021, after more than five years in prison, IMN leader Ibrahim Zakzaky and his wife were released by a court in Kaduna, in the north of the country.

A Shiite cleric, Zakzaky has repeatedly called for an Iranian-style Islamic revolution in Nigeria, where the Muslim population is predominantly Sunni.

Inspired by the Islamic Revolution in Iran in the late 1970s, the IMN still maintains close ties with Tehran.