The United States has denounced the killing of more than 20 members of the<\/p>\n
Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) otherwise known as the Shia community by
\nmen of the Nigerian police during a Shia Procession in Kano on November
\n14.<\/p>\n
This was contained in a statement issued on Friday by spokesperson of the
\nUS Embassy in Abuja, John Kirby, saying that \u00a0the use of force by the
\npolice against the Shiites was disproportionate adding , that the Shiites
\nlike any other religious group have the right to peaceful assembly and to
\nexpress their faith peacefully and mark their celebrations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe call on the Nigerian government to protect and defend these rights. It
\nis also incumbent on members of the IMN and all Nigerian citizens to
\nrespect the rule of law and cooperate with the police as they attempt to
\nmaintain public order.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile the matter is still under investigation, we are troubled by the
\napparent disproportionate response by the police. \u00a0This is the latest in a
\nseries of violent incidents between security forces and members of the
\nShia Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), some of which have resulted in
\ndeaths, destruction of property, and the arbitrary detention of IMN
\nmembers,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe continue to urge the government to ensure accountability for the
\ndeaths of more than 300 IMN members during December 15, 2015 clashes
\nbetween the IMN and security forces in Zaria, Kaduna State.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also call on the Nigerian government to conduct a transparent
\ninvestigation of the latest incidents and bring to account anyone
\nresponsible for violating the law,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n
The US also called for calm and restraint on all sides, a reduction of
\ntensions, and greater communication between Shia citizens and government
\nauthorities, the statement added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The United States has denounced the killing of more than 20 members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) otherwise known as the Shia community by men of the Nigerian…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":54557,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n