Nigerian security forces on Tuesday continued their clampdown on dissent as the Police disrupted a protest by members of the Shi’ite movement in Abuja, unleashing dogs on them and firing water cannons and tear gas canisters to disperse them.
According to eye witnesses, this caused confusion and traffic jam on the busy Shehu Shagari Way as the protesters scampered for safety.
The Shi’ite members had gathered at the Unity Fountain, Maitama to protest the “unlawful incarceration” of their leader, Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, and his wife, Zeenat, by the Federal Government before the police stormed the arena and chased them away by assaulting them.
One Eye witness said the police had directed the crowd to vacate Unity Fountain but the protesters reportedly refused. This then elicited an unlawful unleashing of violence on citizens exercising their constitutional right of protest.
Policemen from the Abuja Police Command unleashed their dogs on the protesters. This forced them into the road as they evaded the unleashed aggression, thereby causing gridlock on the road.
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