Nigeria Crackdown: Three Mourners Martyred by Police Fire During Ashura Commemoration in Kaduna

By Staff

Three Nigerians were martyred by the Nigerian Police fire, while dozens of others were wounded as the police attacked an Imam Hussein [AS] commemoration session marking Ashura anniversary in Kaduna, northern Nigeria.

Police officers were spotted setting their own vehicles on fire as part of using this as a pretext to attack participants in Ashura rituals. Soon after, the police opened fire, shooting dead three of the participants, in addition to setting vehicles of citizens who took part in the annual commemoration.

Shia Muslims across the world commemorate the martyrdom anniversary of third Shia Imam Hussein bin Ali [AS] and his family members and companions who stood up to injustice and fought in the battle of Karbala in the year 61 Hijri. The ten-day commemoration begins on the first of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic year.

The Nigerian Army had attacked a gathering of Nigerian Leader Sheikh Ibrahim al-Zakzaky’s followers in Zaria in 2015, committing a massacre that left around 1000 martyrs including several members of the Sheikh’s sons and family.

Sheikh Zakzaky was arrested during the Zaria Massacre. Despite the court ruling that he must be released, the Nigerian authorities still hold him and his wife illegally, depriving them from the due and necessary medical treatment they require as a result of the injuries they sustained back during the Zaria raid.