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The Islamic Movement in Nigeria has carried out its Ashura mourning procession in Abuja, in defiance to the police order.
The Ashura procession is an annual religious ritual carried out by the Shia Islamic sect all over the world on September 10.
Participants including men, women, and children held the procession for a few kilometres from Berger Roundabout to Wuse, and hurriedly concluded the exercise to avoid a confrontation with security personnel.
It was gathered that the procession which commenced by 8 this morning lasted for about 25 minutes and caused traffic gridlock in the commercial area, but there was no report of any incident.
The story is not the same in Kaduna where the group has alleged that the police killed three of its members during a procession in Kaduna state on Tuesday.
The police had warned the proscribed group against embarking on activities they described as ”an act of advancement of terrorism”.
But the Shi’ite group defied the warning of the police and embarked on its procession across the country.
It held a march in Abuja which was largely peaceful, but reports of the procession from other parts of the country paint a gory picture.
Yahaya Muhammed, media coordinator of the IMN, told Newsmen that three persons, including a minor was killed in Kaduna while they were observing the religious ritual.
”In Abuja it (the procession) was peaceful because the police could not stop us,” he said.
”Three persons were killed in Kaduna, including a minor. In Gombe, there was shooting one person was confirmed dead. In Azare local government (area) in Bauchi one person was confirmed dead.”
But the police have denied the claim.
Yakubu Sabo, spokesman of the Kaduna police command, told TheCable that there was no report of casualty and that the group was making up stories to win public sympathy.
