Soldiers under the Guards Brigade of the Nigerian Army have warned members of the Islamic Movement in Nigerian (IMN), popularly known as Shiites, to stop the incessant protests demanding the release from detention, of their leader, Sheik Ibrahim El zazaky.Guards Brigade Commander, Brigadier-General Umar Tama Musa, who spoke today, Monday in an interview with news men in Abuja, shortly after the end of the brigade’s inter-unit drill competition, said that the brigade is aware of the Shiites activities and watching their movement.
General Umar Musa said that the brigade cannot confront the group for now because of the peaceful manner they have been conducting their activities, adding however, that the brigade would not hesitate to respond with force if the group decides to go violent with its protest.
“In view of the agitation of the Elzazaky group, popularly called the Shiites, so long as they are carrying out a peaceful protest or demonstrations, the Nigerian Army does not have any problem with that.
“But some problem will arise if they decide to become violent. But I want to assure residents of the FCT that we are monitoring their activities keenly and all is well.
“Whenever there is a problem, we can assure the residents that we are capable of handling the situation.”
He said that the brigade is collaborating with the police to curb the activities of kidnappers terrorizing Nigerians, especially, those residing in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
“The issue of kidnapping is a serious security problem in Nigeria as a whole; it has been on the low some months back but it is resurfacing again and I want to assure you that the police are handling the situation.
“Whenever it goes beyond what the police can handle or whenever the police require our services we will assist them.
“But by and large, the security situation in Abuja is okay for now.”
