Nigeria’s presidency on Sunday announced a ban on a Shi’ite group after a spate of deadly clashes at protests in the capital.
Tensions have risen between the authorities and the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) as demonstrations in Abuja to free pro-Iranian leader Ibrahim Zakzaky have descended into violence.
At least six protesters, a trainee journalist and a senior police officer were killed on Monday during the latest clashes.
READ: 8 killed including journalist and deputy police chief during Shi’ites protest in Nigeria
A local newspaper, Punch reported on Saturday the government had secured a court order allowing it to prohibit the group’s activities as “terrorism and illegality”.
“Proscription of Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) has nothing to do with banning the larger numbers of peaceful and law-abiding Shi’ites in the country from practicing their religion, instead it was to discourage wanton violence, murder and willful destruction of public and private property,” the presidency said in a statement.
“The Presidency notes that the banned organization was taken over by extremists who didn’t believe in peaceful protests and instead employed violence and arson, driving fear and undermining the rights of others and constituted authority.”
“The government had to act before the situation goes out of control,” it said.
The authorities still need to publish the court order in the state gazette and two newspapers for it to come into force, Punch said.
The IMN, which emerged as a student movement in the late 1970s, was inspired by the Islamic revolution in Iran, and has close ties in the Shiite Islamic country.
READ: Who are the Shi’ite protesters in Nigeria and what do they want?
The sect is often treated with hostility in Nigeria, especially in the predominantly Sunni Muslim north of the country, where religious elites are allied with Saudi Arabia.
Zakzaky was detained in December 2015 after violence during a religious procession. Rights groups say some 350 mostly unarmed Shi’ite marchers were killed by the Nigerian army.
Dangerous development –
In recent months, there have been almost daily marches by the IMN in the capital as concerns rise over Zakzaky’s health.
The IMN on Sunday condemned the move to ban it as a “dangerous development” and insisted it would push on with protests until its leader was freed.
READ: Police and protesters injured after violent Shiites demonstration in Nigeria
“You can never stop an ideology, you can never stop an idea, you can never stop our religion,” senior member Yahiya Dahiru told a press conference in Abuja.
In October, the IMN and human rights groups said more than 40 people were killed when the security forces opened fire.
The Nigerian police this week vowed to crackdown on “violent protests” by the group, with a heavy security presence visible across the capital city.
Zakzaky and his wife Zeenah Ibrahim have been in custody despite the federal high court ordering his release in 2016.
The government refused and filed fresh criminal charges, including homicide that is punishable by death.