Alghadeer TV Alghadeer TV
Nigerian security forces have killed at least 20 members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) during protests calling for the release of senior cleric Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky, the movement’s leader, this week.
Spokesmen for the IMN said on Friday clashes that erupted between police forces and protesters in the capital, Abuja, this week left at least 20 people dead.
One spokesman said the death toll may be as high as 25.
IMN members regularly take to the streets of the Nigerian capital to call for the release of Sheikh Zakzaky, their leader, who has been in detention since 2015.
Nigerian forces have used live ammunition against the protesters.
Sheikh Zakzaky, who is in his mid-60s, lost his left eyesight in a 2015 raid by security forces that left more than 300 of his followers and three of his sons dead. His wife also sustained serious wounds.
In 2016, Nigeria’s federal high court ordered Zakzaky’s unconditional release from jail following a trial, but the government has so far refused to set him free.
