Members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) on Friday continued their protest in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
They are asking the Federal Government to release their leader, Sheik Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, who was taken into custody following a clash between the Shiites and the army in 2015 in Zaria, Kaduna State.
The Shiites, just about a dozen of them this time, embarked on the protest immediately after the Jumaat prayer at the Yoruba mosque in Wuse zone II area in Abuja.
They insisted that they would not stop their protest until the Federal Government frees their leader from detention.
READ ALSO: Police Restrict Protests In Abuja To One Location
The protesters wondered why the government would refuse to release their leader from detention after a Federal High Court in Abuja granted him freedom more than one year ago.
They embarked on the protest two days after the police restricted all forms of protests within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to the Unity Fountain.
Meanwhile, the Presidency has appealed to the Shiites to desist from what it described as needless violent street protests.
Mr Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity in a statement advised the group to await the decision of the court in Kaduna State where El-Zakzaky was being tried.
The statement said, “The issue of El-ZakZaky is before the court in Kaduna and his supporters should focus on his ongoing trial instead of causing daily damages, disruptions and public nuisance in Abuja.
“It is wrong to be in court and resort to violence at the same time in order to get justice for anybody accused.”
“The destruction of public property in the name of protest is not within the right of this group of Shiite members and no government anywhere would have tolerated a situation where any group would take over public roads in cities, as they have done in Abuja and interfere with the rights of other citizens who are prevented from reaching their destinations.”
