Ben Agande, Kaduna.

The Islamic Movement in Nigeria (aka Shiites) has absolved itself of the murder of the Deputy commissioner of Police in charge of operations in the FCT, DCP Usman Musa, saying that he may have been a victim of “friendly fire”.

A Police patrol car set ablaze during the clash of IMN members with men of the security agencies in Abuja, yesterday. Photo: Olugbemiga Olamikan.

DCP Umar, a Channels TV reporter and several other members of the IMN died during a protest by the IMN on Monday that turned violent.

In an exclusive interview with Vanguard, the spokesman of the IMN, Ibrahim Musa reiterated that members of the movement do not carry weapons so they could not have been responsible for the senior policeman’s death.

How DCP, 7 others died as Shi’ites protest turns bloody in Abuja(Opens in a new browser tab)

According to him, several members of the movement died during the protest as a result of the violence unleashed on them by security agents.

He said “a quick analysis of images and video clips showed that the Free Zakzaky procession was peacefully progressing prior to the brutal crackdown. It also clearly showed that the protesters weren’t bearing arms and traffic was moving smoothly without hindrance.

“The images also showed the police, armed to the teeth, intent in stopping the movement of the protesters. Few other policemen and plain cloth security agents were seen piling used tyres for use to set bonfires. By the time the police struck, about a dozen members of the Islamic Movement had been killed. The police were seen picking the corpses to an undisclosed location, perhaps for mass burial

Vanguard

“Also shot were a journalist with the Channels TV and their colleague, an Deputy Commissioner of Police, whom photographs showed was struck from the back of his head with the bullet exit in front, an indication that he was a victim of “friendly fire.”

“As if to hide this fact, the late policeman was hurriedly buried without any form of postmortem examination, which would have revealed the source of the bullet” he said.