By Ben Agande

Abuja—The Islamic Movement of Nigeria, IMN, the Shi’ite Islamist sect in Nigeria, has alleged that its members were victims of state-sponsored violence aimed at silencing them.

In an interview with Vanguard, the spokesman of the Shi’ite movement in Nigeria, Ibrahim Musa, alleged that those who killed their members were recruited by security agents.

Some members of the sect were killed in Kaduna, Funtua, Jos and Kano, while they were on their annual procession. Some houses of their leaders and education centres were also torched by hoodlums.

According to Musa, “they want to instil terror on our members. They believe that once they do that people will no longer associate with us and we will be left on our own. This will not work because it is our religious obligation.”