'Govt wants to silence us, it won't work,' Sect says

dimeji akinloye

October 14, 2016 6:59 AM

The Shi'ite Islamic sect says the recent attacks on its member will not stop it from performing its Islamic obligations.

Members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), a Shiite group, pray at a mass grave in the outskirts of northern Nigerian city of Kaduna

The Shiite Islamic movement has accused the governments security agents of killing its members in

The sect, which the Kaduna state government declared an outlaw group last week, said the government is trying to silence it.

Some of the Shi'ite members were recently killed across the country while they were on their annual procession.

Homes of their leaders and their education centres were also razed by people reported to be hoodlums in what seems to be a coordinated attack.

Speaking in an interview with Vanguard, spokesman for the group, Ibrahim Musa alleged that those who killed their members were recruited by security agents.

"They want to instil terror on our members. They believe that once they do that people will no longer associate with us and we will be left on our own. This will not work because it is our religious obligation," Musa said.

ALSO READ: Shiites should blame themselves, says JTF spokesman

Following the attack in Kaduna, the state governor, Nasir El-Rufai, had condemned the actions of the residents of Tudun Wada area of the state, who were believed to have masterminded the attack.

Four Shiite members were killed in the Kaduna attack.

dimeji akinloye