Panic as Shi’ites members storm Lagos, demand El-Zakzaky’s release

There was panic among residents of Lagos on Thursday when adherents of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) stormed the state to protest the continued incarceration of their spiritual leader, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky.
The protest is coming barely two days after the group clashed with security personnel at the National Assembly Complex, Abuja.
In the protest held at Maryland intersection, Ikeja on Thursday, they chanted several songs demanding that the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration respect the court that ruled that the IMN leader be released.
Fearing breakdown of law and order, traders quickly locked up their shops and flee for safety while concerned parents trooped to their children schools to withdraw them.
Meanwhile, members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria again clashed with the Police at the Federal Secretariat, Abuja, on Thursday.
The Police fired gunshots and tear gas canisters to disperse the protesters, while five Shi’ite members were apprehended by the security operatives.
The confrontation sparked panic as workers, commuters and motorists fled to avoid being caught in the melee.
The sect members later regrouped at another location to continue with their protest.
They had stormed the National Assembly complex on Tuesday, during which they shot two policemen and also torched three cars and damaged many other vehicles and property.
Forty suspects were arrested in connection with the Tuesday incident.

Details later…