By Mahdi Waziri Isa
The All Ja’afariyya Shia Muslim Community in Nigeria has strongly condemned Nigeria’s Police incessant attacks on peaceful fellow Shia Muslim brothers and Sisters in Nigeria.
The Shia Community which lamented the excessive pressure and restrictions imposed by security forces on Shia Muslims during their religious festivals, called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to end the unjust killings, persecution and indiscriminate arrests of the Shia brothers and sisters that participated in the 2024 annual peaceful Arba’een Symbolic Trek in Abuja.
A Press Release issued by the National Public Relations Officer of the Shia Community which goes by the name “All Ja’afariyya Development Association in Nigeria, Malam Abdullahi Hassan, alias Shazy, said, “We mourn the loss of four Shia lives, lament the wounding of over 50 others, and condemn the arrest of over a hundred innocent Shia civilians this month. We also strongly condemn the forceful removal of Muslim sisters’ divinely ordained dress, exposing their nakedness, and the torture of brothers and sisters in packed cells without regard for their privacy”.
The Shia Association demands an urgent end to these unjust actions and urge security forces to cease using the “IMN” label to perpetrate violence against Shias. Instead, we call on security forces to address genuine threats to national peace and security, such as Boko Haram terrorism, banditry and hunger.
“We emphasize that the Araba’een festival is a global celebration, observed peacefully worldwide, commemorating the brutal killing of the Prophet’s grandson by Yazid in Karbala-Iraq 1,400 years ago. The Shia community is known for its peaceful nature in Nigeria and globally”, the Association stated.
It has also called on the government and security agencies to recognize and respect Shia Muslims’ rights to practice their faith without fear of persecution.
The All Ja’afariyya Development Association also called on all Nigerians irrespective of religious or ideological affiliations, particularly discerning men and women of conscience, to condemn, in the spirit of humanity, and in the spirit of, ‘injustice to one, is injustice to all’, the Police and Soldiers’ unabetted dastardly acts on the Shias.