| Shiite Procession |
Nigeria’s main Shiite group
says it has no links with Boko Haram and is not planning a coalition with the
militant group. The Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) clashed with the Nigerian
Army in Zaria, Kaduna state in northern Nigeria in December 2015 after the army
claimed IMN members attempted to assassinate the Chief of Army Staff.
Some 300 IMN members were
killed in the clashes, according to a report by Human Rights Watch, while the
group’s spiritual leader Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky was arrested and remains in
detention. The movement released a statement on Monday, claiming that reports
were circulating among the Nigerian security services, linking the IMN with the
Sunni fundamentalist group Boko Haram, which has killed tens of thousands of
people and displaced millions during its six-year insurgency in Nigeria.
Ibrahim Musa, the IMN’s media
spokesperson, told Newsweek that the reports had been circulated by
Nigeria’s intelligence agency, the State Security Service (DSS), to give
justification for a crackdown on the movement. “The Islamic Movement is totally
and completely different from the so-called Boko Haram. Sheikh Zakzaky has said
it many times that we only talk but we don’t fight,” says Musa.