THE November 14 clash in Kano between the Police and members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), also known as Shi’ites, claimed the lives of eight Shi’ite members and a policeman. Scores of people from both sides were seriously wounded during the bloody clash.
The Kano State Police Commissioner, Rabiu Yusuf, who confirmed the incident, explained that in the morning of the fateful day, thousands of Shi’ite members obstructed motorists’ and other road users’ free access to Kano-Kaduna expressway between Kwanar Dawaki and Tamburawa village in Dawakin Kudu Local Council Area. The police also said that the Shi’ite members attacked innocent citizens, damaged public and personal property and thereby caused mayhem that could lead to general disturbance of public peace in the state.
Yusuf pointed out that a combined team of special squads and conventional police was promptly deployed to ensure peace and safety of the people. He said further that in the process, Shi’ite members who were armed with bows and arrows and other dangerous weapons attacked the policemen, killed one and seriously wounded another security agent.
Narrating their side of the story, a Shi’ite teacher, Sanusi Abdulkadir, said that the Shi’ites were trekking from Kano to Zaria as part of their annual religious trip but were obstructed by the police. He also said that the police later killed many of their members. He claimed that the sect had briefed the state police command about the trek, adding that the police had declined to give consent.
We condemn the bloody clash between the Police and Shi’ites that led to the death of nine persons and left several others wounded. Such clashes are avoidable if there is restraint on both sides. We do not know how many times the police need to be reminded that it is against the law to stop peaceful protests and that such protests do not require police permits.
We also do not know how long it will take for our security agencies to realise that in a democracy, peaceful protests are regarded as a form of speech and in an atmosphere where the freedom of expression is guaranteed, peaceful protests are also guaranteed without encumbrances.
Although the Shi’ites have a reputation for unwillingness to obey the laws, in this instance, they reportedly approached the Kano State Police Command to intimate it of their trek. They were said to have been wrongly rebuffed. But, what is even worse is that the Kano Police made no arrangement for the maintenance of law and order during the trek.
By failing to offer the Shi’ites police patrol to ensure they do not break the law as they move in their thousands, and to protect them from molestation and ensure the orderliness of their trek, the police must share part of the blame for this bloody incident. To the Shi’ites, we can only remind them to make it their credo to be law-abiding in all they do and to go the extra-mile to abide by regulations. Being a minority and a controversial religious organisation, IMN has been under intense pressure since December 2015 when its members were reportedly killed in a clash with the military. On that occasion, as in this, the Shi’ites were accused of blocking the highway.
They should know that being law-abiding is their greatest guarantee against injustice such as the inexplicable bans slammed on them in Kaduna, Plateau, Borno and other states. They should realise that under Section 18 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, “a police officer may without an order of a court and without a warrant, arrest a suspect whom he reasonably suspects to be designing to commit an offence, if it appears to him that the commission of the offence cannot be otherwise prevented.”
And, whenever they consider their fundamental human rights threatened, they should go to court to get justice. The best way to earn the sympathy of their fellow citizens is by being law-abiding citizens even in the face of extreme provocation.