Shiites have killed my men - FCT CP

The Federal Capital Territory Police Commissioner, Benneth Igweh, was close to wailing on Sunday as he lamented the loss of some of his men to a violent protest by the proscribed Islamic Movement in Nigeria, commonly referred to as the Shiites.

The group’s event on Sunday, August 25, had started as a procession but got escalated into violence, resulting in the deaths of two police officers and a local trader at the popular Wuse Market in Abuja.

Some other reports said six people died in the clash with the police.

Expressing deep displeasure over the incident, Igweh labelled the actions of the Shiite group as “provocative,” especially their attacks on security operatives, which also left two policewomen critically injured.

During a statement to the press at Force Headquarters, Igweh strongly condemned the violence and vowed that such attacks on police personnel would not be tolerated under his watch. “Their killers will not go unpunished,” Igweh stated, underscoring his commitment to bringing those responsible to justice.

The clash also saw substantial property damage, with at least three police vehicles reported to have been set ablaze amidst the turmoil. Igweh said;

“You can see now that these people (Shiites) have killed my men. They even went ahead to injure two policewomen. In fact, they’ve even declared war on security operatives.

“We spoke to their lawyer, if you heard what he was saying, you would be shocked, you would know that these people have declared total war on us. I want to assure you that we won’t take that lightly, this is the last protest or procession they will carry out in FCT.”