*Claim Nigeria police hired thugs to disrupt our peaceful protest
The Islamic Movement of Nigeria has claimed the Nigeria Police Force hired thugs to disrupt its protest held on Tuesday.
Two Shiites were killed, four policemen were wounded and 50 cars were vandalized in the violence that marred the protest.
The police had earlier claimed that the protesters attempted to invade the legislative chambers of the National Assembly complex by scaling the fence.
40 Shiites members were arrested in the ensuing melee.[story_link align="left"]71526[/story_link]
Abdullahi Musa, spokesperson for the Academic Forum of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) revealed that the police disrupted the rally by hiring thugs to join the protesters.
He also revealed that one of the policemen who fired shots at the protesters mistakenly shot and killed another cop.
Musa said, “It was inconceivable that an unarmed person would attack fully-armed security personnel as being suggested in some quarters.
“As we reached the gate, the police officers shot tear gas at us and started shooting live bullets. In the process, they killed two of us and mistakenly shot one of them,” he said.[story_link align="left"]71522[/story_link]
Musa earlier told SaharaReporters that the movement would continue to demand the release by staging a massive protest today.
He also said the movement would not be deterred by the killing of two of its members by the police.
"We are coming out tomorrow. The only thing that will stop us from coming out is when they free our leader and allow him to go for medical treatment," he said.