400 Shiites for arraignment

The Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, yesterday said 400 members of members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) also known as Shiites were for arraignment in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Addressing State House Correspondents on the sidelines of the Armed Forces and Remembrance Day Emblem launch in Abuja, the police boss stated that the Shiites were to appear in court yesterday.

“You know that when we make arrests, the next thing is to take them to court. We were to arraign them today (yesterday) before a Magistrate’s or Federal High Court.”

However, the Federal Government is perfecting plans to prevail on the detained IMN leader, Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, and his followers to end the impasse.

Abuja was a hotbed of crises for three consecutive days when security agencies and the Shiites clashed while demanding the release of their leader who has been in custody since December 2016 in defiance of several court orders granting him reprieve.

Meanwhile, the Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Most Rev. Dr. Alfred Adewale Martins, has called on government to urgently end the orgy of killings in Kaduna and the frequent feud with the Shiites.

Regretting the needless loss of lives, the cleric noted that the two recent incidents had again raised the need for security agents to review the numerous security challenges besetting the nation and come up with sustainable solutions.

Martins warned the authorities against treating the Southern Kaduna crisis like the Boko Haram saga, a situation, he termed a time bomb.

Condoling the families who lost their loved ones to the onslaughts, the archbishop called on the police, military and other law enforcement agencies to bring the perpetrators to book.