ABUJA, July 31, (Xinhua/GNA) — Nigeria’s Inspector General of Police Mohammed Adamu on Tuesday officially declared that the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), also known as the Shi’ites Movement, had been outlawed and banned from organizing protests in the country.
Anyone associated with the Shi’ites group or promoting their agenda will henceforth be treated as a terrorist and an enemy of the state, Adamu said at a press conference in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.
The proscription of the religious group followed a number of violent protests held in agitation for the release of their spiritual leader Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky and his wife who had been in « protective custody » since 2015.
A federal High Court in Abuja gave the order that the group should be proscribed following an ex parte application by the federal government before the court last Thursday.
Through the judicial pronouncement, the Nigerian government has classified IMN as a terrorist group and accordingly proscribed, Adamu said.
He said the activities of the IMN had over time evolved to constitute a grave threat to national security, law and order, socio-religious harmony, peace, good governance and the sovereign integrity of Nigeria.
« The members of the IMN have engaged in extreme radicalism, series of terror-related activities, violence and other unlawful activities which are inimical to the national security interest, good governance, and the corporate existence of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, » said the national police chief.
According to Adamu, over the years, the religious group has manifested its penchant for launching attacks on Nigerians and the symbols of state authority, which includes engaging in nefarious activities and « pledging allegiance to foreign countries from where they are enjoying political, financial and training support with the aim of advancing their destabilizing intents within Nigeria ».
Among many allegations against the group include setting up of a paramilitary guard, through which the police chief said the IMN had been terrorizing local residents.
« They have also instituted unregistered security outfits and performed paramilitary ceremonies, hoisting of flags, combat exercises, parades and inspection by the IMN leader reminiscent of state authority.
« Unauthorized blocking of public highways, engagement in illegal road blocks, imposition of illegal curfews and checkpoints, raids on security assets, prevention of arrest of their members, invasion of court premises to abort legal proceedings involving IMN members, refusal to submit to ordinary security checks and attacks on security agents which led to the death of several Nigerians, » Adamu added.
The government had filed the suit to proscribe the religious organization in court after the Shi’ites group clashed twice with the police in Abuja within one month.
A march for the release of El-Zakzaky and his wife turned violent on July 9 when hundreds of protesters invaded the national parliament in Abuja. At least eight police officers were injured and 40 protesters arrested during and after the clash.
The second clash came about two weeks later, on July 22. And it left a senior police officer and a young journalist serving with a local broadcaster killed, with many others injured and properties destroyed.
In November 2018, a Nigerian court refused El-Zakzaky and his wife’s bail. They were first arraigned on May 15, 2018, following their arrest in the northern city of Zaria in December 2015.
They were being charged by the Nigerian government of culpable homicide, unlawful assembly, and disturbance of public peace, among others.
