Nigeria's Kaduna State outlaws main Shia group

By Rafiu Ajakaye

LAGOS, Nigeria (AA) - Nigeria’s Kaduna state has outlawed the Shia Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), in a step the government said was necessary to keep public peace.

Samuel Aruwan, spokesman to governor Nasir el-Rufai of the northwestern state, said in a statement Friday night that the group was declared “an unlawful society”.

The order followed the government's reception of a report conducted by a panel that investigated last December's violent encounter between the army and members of the country's main Shia group, in which over 300 people were killed.

Group leader Ibrahim el-Zakzaky and his wife have been detained since the incident.

Accusing the Shia of unlawful conduct and running a private militia, Aruwan said the order meant that anyone who managed or claimed membership to the organization risked prosecution.

“We totally reject the proscription as it was made in bad fate. And we are going to challenge it by all means lawful,” said Ibrahim Musa, spokesman of the movement, in a telephone interview on Friday.