Replies to post #348194 on Tornado Alley (PROG)

[fuagf]

LOLs, millions are looking forward to it.

[fuagf]

Trump comment used by Nigerian Army to justify violence against demonstrators.

"Heads up, DUers!"

Why Shiite Muslim protesters and Nigeria’s security forces keep clashing


A fire station was set ablaze by members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria during clashes
with police in the streets of Abuja on Monday. (Kola Sulaimon/AFP/Getty Images)

ByDanielle Paquette
July 24, 2019 at 3:21 a.m. GMT+10

DAKAR, Senegal — A high-ranking police officer, a journalist and protesters are among the dead after a rally to free a minority religious leader from detention turned violent this week in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, marking another dark chapter in a series of murky confrontations.

The death toll remained uncertain Tuesday following the latest clashes between state security forces and supporters of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria .. https://www.cfr.org/blog/more-trouble-between-nigerias-shia-minority-and-police (IMN), a Shiite Muslim group that wants the government to release Ibrahim el-Zakzaky.

Authorities said 3,000 of his followers gathered in the capital Monday with weapons. Demonstrators said they came to advocate for their leader, who has been a voice for religious dissent since the 1980s and was arrested in 2015 on a murder charge that his supporters view as fabricated.

Each side accused the other of sparking violence.

“The heavily armed protesters defying all sense of decency violently attacked innocent citizens and Police personnel on duty,” police spokesman Frank Mba said in a statement.

Mohammed Ibrahim Gamawa, a Shiite protester, denied that, saying police opened fire on demonstrators without provocation.

“We deposited 15 corpses at the mortuary,” he said in an interview.

The bloodshed raises questions about the government’s use of force at a time when religious protests in the country are expected to intensify. Demonstrators say they won’t stop taking to the streets — no matter the consequences — until Zakzaky is free.

[...]

In November, the IMN said 42 of its members were killed by military forces in Abuja clashes. The Nigerian army seemed to defend its response on Twitter .. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2018/11/02/nigerian-armys-defense-after-it-shot-killed-protesters-trumps-remarks-migrant-caravan/?utm_term=.21ccb8cdcaf4&itid=lk_inline_manual_44 .. that week with a quote from President Trump.

“Please Watch and Make your Deductions,” read the tweet, which featured a video clip of Trump saying: “Anybody throwing stones, rocks .?.?. we will consider that a firearm because there is not much difference.”

“They want to throw rocks at our military, our military fights back,” Trump said in his Nov. 1 comments .. https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/politics/trump-on-throwing-rocks-at-military-we-will-consider-that-a-firearm/2018/11/01/1fde5cdc-de19-11e8-8bac-bfe01fcdc3a6_video.html?utm_term=.c5a1d4259f7a&itid=lk_inline_manual_47 .

The Nigerian army later deleted the tweet.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/journalist-police-officer-protesters-die-as-shiite-muslim-group-clashes-with-police-in-nigerias-capital/2019/07/23/e0b2e08e-ad4b-11e9-9411-a608f9d0c2d3_story.html