…warn politicians against using group for selfish reasons
A coalition of 22 Civil Society Organizations and Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) have called for the immediate prescription of Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), describing the group a clear danger to the society.
The groups said failure for the Federal Government to act within the next 72 hours will force the CSOs in the coalition to stage a mass protest in Abuja on Monday next week.
Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja, leader of the group, Comrade (Patriot) Adodo Solomon said the IMN poses security threat to the country, saying Kaduna State Government had outlawed the IMN as a militarized extremist group that is a clear danger to the society.
He said where the authorities fail to rein in the IMN, the coalition will have no other option than to come out in full to demonstrate, since it is not only IMN that has the monopoly to protest.
He said, “We shall meet the extremist group on the street member for member until they learn to respect the secularity of Nigeria and the supremacy of the Nigerian constitution over dubious sectarian creeds.
“We strongly advise that the Federal Government wakes up to its responsibility and proscribes the lawlessness terrorist organization that IMN has proven itself to be. The hate speech by the organization must be curtailed immediately.
He explained that the IMN in the last few days clashed with military personnel in Zuba, in different parts of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
He said the official statement from the military indicated members of the group had attempted to obstruct a military convoy transporting weapons with a view to snatching the consignment.
According to him, previous demonstrations or protests by IMN members were equally violent, adding that there are enough video clips and pictures on the internet of these people attacking security and military personnel.
He said, “As is the case now, some of these members carry weapons while a large number of them deploy projectiles of various forms that have left several persons hospitalized with life changing injuries.
“Another thing that stands out in the IMN violence is the destruction targeted at public and private property. In the last few days under consideration, they willfully destroyed cars belonging to law abiding Nigerians while also destroying vehicles belonging to law enforcement agents and the military.
“Furthermore, there is a pattern of these IMN members aiming their protests to spill into commercial areas, which gives us the sense that there could be a deliberate ploy to overrun businesses with the intention to loot and pillage. This has not be proven, however. But aiming to overwhelm the nerve centre of Abuja as the nation’s capital is proof that the IMN members are out to ground Nigeria on the instructions of the Islamic Republic of Iran. This is a needless provocation of law abiding Nigerians.”
