Police allegedly beat up hijab-wearing women in Abuja
Members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) were on Monday teargassed and brutalised by the anti-riot policemen during an Abuja protest seeking their leader’s freedom.
The Muhammadu Buhari government detained IMN leader Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, a Shiite, since 2015 over national security fears.
The Shiite protest, which took off from Sky Memorial in the Wuse district of the nation’s capital, was disrupted at Wuse Market following the arrival of armed police officers who fired teargas and live ammunition at the crowd.
The police officers allegedly harassed, beat up and removed the veils and hijab of the female protesters in the process.
Many protesters were injured.
The Secretary Academic Forum of the movement, Abdullahi Musa, also confirmed the incident, saying that they would not abandon the struggle for the release of their leader irrespective of intimidation from the security agents.
“The police harassed so many innocent people during our peaceful protest today, including passersby, mostly women, and they removed their hijab,” Musa alleged.
“We do not rely on anyone other than Allah, and even if we are torn into pieces a thousand times, we would never abandon our leader and the struggle for his freedom from unlawful detention.”
