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Islamic Cleric Tells Nigerian Government To Be Brutal On #EndSARS Protesters

October 15, 2020

The cleric said that the same treatment meted on members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria in Zaria, Kaduna State, in 2015 where over 300 Shiites were killed by the military during a procession, must be visited on peaceful demonstrators demanding an end to police brutality and reform of the law enforcement agency in many parts of the country.

An Islamic preacher, Sheikh Musa Asadus Sunnah, has asked the Nigerian Government to be brutal on #EndSARS protesters so as to get them off the streets of major cities across the country.

The cleric said that the same treatment meted on members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria in Zaria, Kaduna State, in 2015 where over 300 Shiites were killed by the military during a procession, must be visited on peaceful demonstrators demanding an end to police brutality and reform of the law enforcement agency in many parts of the country.

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According to him, it is only when this is done that the killing of Shiites in Zaria can be justified and agreed to have been done in the interest of national security as claimed by the government.

Speaking in Hausa language, the Islamic cleric said, “I am going to say what you people have never heard me say today. There was a crisis in Zaria where Shiites were attacked and massacred. If the reason truly was for national stability, then anybody that challenges and undermines the authority of the Nigeria State, declare war against them for Nigeria to stay in peace.

“But if you (government) declared war against those ones (Shiites) in the name of Nigeria and another group are now causing instability and war is not declared against them, then no sensible person will accept the rational giving for the action against the Shiites without questioning.

“Both are human beings. If one group is punished because of Nigeria, then whoever is perceived to have engaged in an act of destabilisation, you (government) should take action to eliminate and punish him for Nigeria to be in peace.

“You (government) need to know this. Don't think you (government) are the only one that is sensible, the masses have sense too.”

Many young Nigerians have taken to the streets to protest the brutality and injustice they have encountered at the hands of officials of the now disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad.

This protest forced the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, to disband the unit and announce a new team named SWAT.

The decision has not gone down well with Nigerian youth, who have continued to occupy major roads and intersections in various parts of the country to show their anger.

The people are calling for the disbandment of the newly constituted SWAT team and initiate holistic reforms.