A combined armed security team
yesterday halted a procession by members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria,
otherwise known as Shiites, in Katsina.
Members of the sect had gathered at the Central Mosque area to begin the procession at about 8am when armed security personnel moved in to disperse them.
Thereafter, there was a heavy
security patrol across the main streets of the town in a move believed to check
any possible threat to law and order.
It was gathered that the Sayyada Zahara Maulud procession is an annual event by the movement to commemorate the birth of the prophet’s daughter, Fatima.
The leader of the movement in Katsina, Shiek Yakubu Yahaya, said about 10 vehicles full of armed security personnel arrived the venue, confiscating banners and flags of the sect which sent fears among followers.
Governor Aminu Masari said his administration would not compromise security as it would not sit and watch what happened in Kaduna to repeat itself in Katsina, adding, “We will take all measures to ensure that Katsina remains a peaceful place as it has always been.
We have no intention to trample on the right to worship but one’s right stops at the doorstep of another. We will not allow any group to take over public places for their procession”.
A statement by the Shiites’ spokesman, Ibrahim Musa, said yesterday that after noticing the number of soldiers that surrounded the main Juma’at mosque of the sect where the procession was slated to take off, the movement relocated to prevent any confrontation.
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